Brexit hopes bolster pound but dent FTSE

Market report Hannah Burley

The FTSE 100 ended in negative territory, down 0.62 per cent at 7,516.03, dented by a resurgent pound and dragged down by the likes of phone titan Vodafone.

Sterling held on to gains made earlier in the week following comments from Michel Barnier suggesting that the European Union is ready to offer the UK a bespoke Brexit deal.

The pound was hovering around $1.30 for most of the day before dipping 0.2 per cent at the end of the session. Versus the single currency, the pound was up 0.3 per cent at €1.115.

David Madden, market analyst at CMC, said: “The dust has settled after Michel Barnier’s comments yesterday that he would be prepared to give the UK a deal that no other country has been offered.

“Today it was reported that President Macron will encourage the EU to broker an agreement with the UK. While the prospects of a no-deal Brexit remain low, the pound’s prospects are likely to be positive.”

In UK stocks, Vodafone was subject to a selloff after Merrill Lynch downgraded its stock to neutral from buy. The move followed the British mobile phone operator’s mammoth A$15 billion (£8.4bn) deal to merge its Australian operations with TPG Telecom. Shares ended down 5.42p at 167.52p.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 included Ocado, up 18p at 1,080.5p, United Utilities ,up 9.4p at 738.8p, and GVC, up 10p at 1,110p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 included Fresnillo, down 28.4p at 906.2p, Royal Mail, down 13.1p at 451.2p, and Tesco, down 5.2p at 244.7.