MARKET REPORT

A mild recovery by the pound weighed on the FTSE 100, which failed to benefit from a recovery in global stocks that lifted its European peers.

The blue chip index ended the day up just 0.19% or 14.33 points at 7386.94, while its continental counterparts including the French Cac 40 and German Dax climbed higher by 0.66% and 0.55%, respectively.

The FTSE 100 was impacted by sterling’s rise, having climbed 0.3% versus the euro to 1.120 and 0.16% against the US dollar to 1.319.

Investors shrugged off data showing that UK retail sales suffered their first annual decline since 2013, and instead focused on more buoyant monthly figures.

In UK stocks, GKN shares tumbled 14.8p to 296p after revealing that its chief executive Kevin Cummings has left the company with immediate effect after it decided “the next stage of GKN’s development is best delivered under alternative leadership”.

Shares were also impacted by news that a review of its US aerospace plants has uncovered a further hit, with additional write-offs of between £80m and £130m.

Royal Mail rose 6.5p to 395.5p despite seeing halfyear profits drop by nearly a third and warning that efforts to reach a deal with unions over pay and pensions could hit its financial performance.

However, revenues rose 2% to £4.8bn, with the lion’s share of the growth coming from its Europe-focused parcel business General Logistics Systems (GLS), helping to offset flat revenues at its UK letters and parcels arm.

Prudential rose 20p to 1,880p as the insurance giant reported that new business profits jumped by nearly a fifth on the back of higher interest rates which bolstered sales across the US and Asia.

Virgin Money slid 14.4p to 260.6p. The challenger bank announced yesterday that it was stepping into small business banking and would launch an SME savings account in January.

Just Eat jumped 21p to 824p after the Competition and Markets Authority gave the green light to its takeover of rival Hungryhouse.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Shire up 213.5p at 3,744p, Paddy Power Betfair up 405p at 8,820p, Convatec Group up 8.7p at 198.5p, and British Land Company up 22p at 618.5p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were GKN down 14.8p at 296p, Royal Dutch Shell down 70.5p at 2,331p, Mediclinic International down 16p to 578.5p, and Royal Dutch Shell down 57.5p to 2,378.5p.