Pound’s woes continue as Footsie lifts

Market report Emma Newlands

The pound fell into the red after Brexit Secretary David Davis said there was no sector analysis done over the impact of the “divorce” from the European Union.

The comments sent sterling down more than 0.4 per cent to $1.338 against the US dollar, and down more than 0.2 per cent versus the euro to €1.133.

Connor Campbell, a financial analyst at Spreadex, noted that sterling’s “continued problems” helped lift the FTSE 100, which ended the day up 20.53 points at 7,348.03.

He said London’s top-flight index “managed to shake off its early losses” in the session, adding that investors were “processing the lunchtime shock of David Davis admitting that the government hasn’t done a sector-by-sector Brexit impact assessment”.

In UK stocks, Hammerson tumbled 33p to 501.5p after confirming that it had agreed to an all-share takeover of rival Intu in a £3.4 billion deal that will create Britain’s biggest property company. But the news sparked interest in its acquisition target, sending Intu higher by 27.1p to 226.1p

BP rose 2.5p to 494.25p as it announced plans to build its third lubricants plant in China for the equivalent of about £170 million in the biggest investment of its kind for the oil giant.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 included Whitbread, up 280p to 3,990p, British American Tobacco, up 178p to 5,028p, and Morrison Supermarkets, up 4p to 222.8p. The biggest fallers included Micro Focus International, down 46p to 2,427p, Worldpay Group, down 7.4p to 413.6p, and DCC, down 95p to 6,885p. The shopping centre operator lifted on news of a planned merger with Hammerson, a retail property developer, to create a £21 billion giant. Shares in the over-50s travel and insurance firm plunged by as much as 25 per cent after it warned over profits for the year to January.