May’s no-deal comments stifle pound

Sterling came under renewed pressure as fears of a no-deal Brexit again weighed heavily on the British currency. The pound fell from $1.290 to $1.287 by the end of the session, while against the euro it shed 0.45 per cent to hit €1.099, its lowest level for almost a year.

The pound’s slide came after Theresa May stated that a no-deal Brexit “wouldn’t be the end of the world”.

Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex, said that the comments helped exacerbate sterling’s fall. “The talk of Britain leaving the EU without an agreement has become louder and louder in the last couple of weeks, with the PM doing little to calm the market’s fears on this front.”

The FTSE 100, meanwhile, rose 39.73 points to close at 7,617.22. Primark owner Associated British Foods was rooted to the bottom of the index following a fire at a Belfast store that had recently undergone a multi-millionpound refurbishment. Shares closed down 74p at 2,286p.

Bunzl shares were also in the red even as the FTSE 100 firm made its first foray into the Norwegian market and logged an 8 per cent jump in profits to £197.3 million. The outsourcing and distribution firm has snapped up Oslo-based Enor, which supplies light catering equipment to the likes of hotels, restaurants, hospitals and fast food chains. Shares were down 5p at 2,325p.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 included Evraz, up 26.4p at 518p, and NMC Health ,up 136p at 3,948p.

The biggest fallers included CRH down, 35p at 2,607,p and BP, down 4p at 559.7p.