Footsie down as political woes take toll

Market report Perry Gourley

The pound took a fresh hit amid growing fears surrounding Theresa May’s future as Prime Minister following weekend reports that she is facing a rebellion from Conservative backbenchers.

The fall in sterling helped limit losses on the FTSE 100 which ended the day down 17.81 points at 7,415.18.

David Madden, a market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: “The remainder of Europe is firmly in the red, but the weakness in sterling has cushioned the fall in the British index.

Ladbrokes fell 3.3p to 133.6p despite posting a 3 per cent rise in net revenue for the four months to 29 October, aided by a 12 per cent rise in its digital business which offset a drop in takings at the betting giant’s retail stores.

Revenues at the retail stores fell by 1 per cent as like-for-like revenue from betting machines came in flat.

Taylor Wimpey shares were nearly flat, down just 0.1p at 192.8p, having reported a slight drop in its order book at 8,751 homes and £2.2 billion for the second half of its 2017 financial year, down from 8,981 and £2.3bn over the same period last year. But the housebuilder struck a positive note, saying UK housing market was “positive” during the period and that central London was “stable”.

Ultra Electronics plunged 297p to 1,230p after the defence firm warned over profits as its chief executive stepped down.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Carnival, up 83p to 4,947p, Astrazeneca ,up60p to 4,930p, Diageo, up 21p to 2,580.5p, and Royal Dutch Shell’s B shares, up 20p to 2,477.5p. The Londonbased cosmetics company said it had raised over £21 million through a share placing in order to acquire rival Retra Holdings. The FTSE 250 defence technology firm warned over profits and said its chief executive Rakesh Sharma was stepping down.