FTSE flat as Brexit hopes lift sterling

The pound hit a four-month high against the euro amid reports that the EU and UK could reach a Brexit divorce deal as early as next week.

Sterling was at its highest level versus the eurozone currency since June, rising 0.4 per cent to trade at €1.144.

The currency was hovering near a two-week high against the US dollar at $1.313.

Fiona Cincotta, a senior market analyst at City Index, said: “The pound is holding up surprisingly well given the amount of uncertainty, feeding off the volatility in the US and European bond markets.”

The strength of the pound was weighing on the FTSE 100, which ended the day relatively flat, up just 4.26 points at 7,237.59.

In UK stocks, Aviva fell 2.1p to 463.1p after the insurance group announced that chief executive Mark Wilson would stand down after more than five years at the helm. It follows his decision in March to join the board of rival assetmanager Blackrock.

Sky shares were nearly flat, up 1p at 1,726.5p. The company’s chairman James Murdoch resigned from the broadcaster as US cable giant Comcast took formal control of the British firm, having acquired more than 75 per cent of the business.

It comes after Comcast snapped up the 39 per cent stake that belonged to Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 included Royal Mail up 14.6p at 353p and Evraz up 17.4p at 564.8p. The biggest fallers included Smurfit Kappa Group down 124p at 2,736p and Vodafone Group down 3.86p at 150.72p.