Pound’s fall fails to stop Footsie slide

The pound initially jumped on the back of the Bank of England’s interest rate rise but the rally was short-lived as concerns grew over heightened trade tensions between the US and China.

David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said traders are fearful that a trade spat between the two largest economies in the world could hamper global growth.

The relative weakness in the pound couldn’t prop up the FTSE 100 which closed down 76.98 points at 7,573.93.

Outsourcer Serco saw shares dip 3.1p to 98.8p despite announcing profits nearly doubled over the first half of 2018.

Serco said that it was grappling with reduced demand for new outsourcing and transformation projects in the UK, as the UK government and civil service are preoccupied with Brexit.

Shares in insurer Aviva fell 7.8p to 487.8p after suffering a 2 per cent drop in first-half profits as bad weather, divestments and poor performance from its Canadian motor insurance division weighed on results.

The company said operating profits declined slightly to £1.44 billion over the first six months of the year, from £1.47bn a year earlier.

All Bar One owner Mitchells & Butlers benefited from a rise in sales but warned that its margins will fall due to rising costs. The pub firm said it was still facing significant cost headwinds, and expected margins to fall year-onyear, but benefited from England’s success in the World Cup.

Like-for-like sales for the 43 weeks to 28 July edged up 1.3 per cent. Shares closed down 16p at 241.4p.