FTSE recovers as Brexit woes injure pound

The pound was knocked amid fresh political turmoil as Theresa May attempted to avoid defeat on key Brexit legislation.

Sterling fell below $1.32 despite solid employment data pointing to a likely hike in interest rates from the Bank of England next month.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of people in work reached new record levels, while earnings remain “modestly” up on the year. However, political pressures steered the pound, which was down by 0.66 per cent against the US dollar at $1.314 in afternoon trading. Against the euro, sterling was down 0.3 per cent at €1.126.

The FTSE 100 closed the day up 0.34 per cent or 25.88 points at 7,626.33 after suffering losses on the back of falling oil prices the previous day.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: “Having withstood a disappointing UK wage growth reading, the pound wilted as [yesterday’s session] went on as a flare-up of ‘Brexititus’ took its toll… This helped the FTSE, which had been struggling with its commodity stocks, claw back some of Monday’s heavy losses.”

In UK stocks, Royal Mail warned that firms were uncertain over the recent shake-up of personal data rules, but its shares were lifted 8.7p to 489.5p as it continued to see a buoyant parcels business offset by falling letter deliveries.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 included Just Eat up 23.2p to 871p, Berkeley Group up 91p to 3,685p, and Antofagasta up 20.8p to 958.8p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 included Paddy Power Betfair down 275p to 8,225p, WPP down 36p to 1,180p, and CRH down 38p to 2,680p.