MARKET REPORT

THE pound hit a 10-month high yesterday as political uncertainty in Washington and waning hopes of an interest rate rise from the Federal Reserve weighed on the US dollar.

Sterling was up 0.45% versus the greenback at $1.319 in afternoon trading, reaching its highest level since mid September.

Neil Wilson said President Donald Trump’s failure to push through his reform agenda is starting to weigh on the currency.

“There’s a lot of dollar softness out there with political uncertainty and doubts around the Federal Reserve’s capacity to raise rates again this year weigh.”

Versus the euro, the pound was flat at €1.117.

Investors were also digesting data from the Bank of England which showed UK mortgage approvals hitting a nine month low in June, while non-mortgage lending to consumers dropped from £1.8bn in May to £1.5bn last month.

The FTSE 100 ended the day relatively flat, up a mere 3.63 points at 7,372.

But London’s blue chip index managed to outperform its continental peers, with the French Cac 40 dropping 0.73% and the German Dax down 0.37%.

In UK stocks, Astra Zeneca climbed 87.5p to 4,569p after saying it had secured a “breakthrough” therapy designation from US regulators for its lung cancer drug Imfinzi.

However, the drug giant’s shares failed to claw back losses felt last week, sparked by a setback in a separate lung cancer treatment trial.

Tobacco shares continued to suffer following last week’s news that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it may force companies to cut nicotine in cigarettes down to non-addictive levels.

Imperial Brands ended the day down 195.5p to 3,120p, while British American Tobacco fell 246p to 4,713.5p,

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Severn Trent up 88p at 2,240p, United Utilities Group up 26p at 897.5p, Hargreaves Lansdown up 38p to 1,380p, and Standard Chartered up 19.6p to 846.7p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Imperial Brands down 195.5p to 3,120p, British American Tobacco down 246p to 4,713.5p, Rolls Royce Holdings down 41p to 888p, and easy Jet down 39p to 1,236p.