MARKET REPORT

LONDON’S blue-chip index fell from record heights and the pound bounced back as conflicting General Election polls led to choppy trading on the financial markets.

The FTSE 100 Index had managed a mid-session record of 7,586.45, before giving up its gains at the close to finish 6.56 points down at 7,519.95.

The London market had been buoyed by sterling’s weakness after a YouGov poll pointed to a smaller Conservative lead and a hung parliament, with the Tories forecast to lose 20 seats.

Blue-chip companies, which report in US dollars or euros, get a lift on the FTSE 100 Index when the pound suffers because their earnings benefit from a more favourable currency translation. However, the pound rebounded in response to a separate poll from Panelbase – conducted more than a week ago – showing the Tory lead had increased to 15 points.

Sterling was up 0.8% against the US dollar at 1.29 and 0.3% ahead versus the euro at 1.148.

The price of oil sank to a three-week low, Brent crude down 3.4%, or 1.77 US dollars, to 50.47 US dollars a barrel.

In UK stocks, supermarket giant Tesco was suffering after a fresh tranche of industry data showed rivals Aldi and Lidl had grown at their fastest rate since 2015. Shares in Britain’s biggest supermarket were down 1.7p to 183.7p, Sainsbury’s climbed by 1.3p to 281p and Morrisons slipped by 1.4p to 246.2p.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 Index were Randgold Resources up 200p to 7,365p, Mediclinic International up 19p to 808.5p, Barratt Developments up 11p to 612.5p, Merlin Entertainments up 9.5p to 529p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 Index were Rio Tinto down 80.5p to 3102.5p, BHP Billiton down 29.5p to 1173p, Glencore down 6.9p to 285.1p, Anglo American down 24.5p to 1031.5p.