MARKET REPORT

THE FTSE 100 had a strong showing on what should have been a quiet day for the leading blue chip index.

Deals galore and a plunging pound helped the index close the day up 137.55 points, or 1.8%, at 7,686.61.

By the time the markets closed, the pound was trading down 1.24% at 1.2228 dollars, and was down against the euro by 1.34% to 1.0981.

By comparison, the German Dax was flat and the French Cac lost 0.2%.

Brent Crude was up 0.13% to 63.54 dollars a barrel.

The extra boost to the FTSE 100 came from major announcements in company news that sent shares soaring.

Connor Campbell, market analyst at SpreadEx, said: “The FTSE was in its own, very lucrative, Brexit and M&A bubble on Monday, the UK index effectively playing a different game to its muted eurozone and US peers.

“On what could have been a quiet day otherwise, the FTSE struck upon a bounty of news.

“Not only are Just Eat and the London Stock Exchange up... but the pound has fallen off a cliff.”

Just Eat was the biggest riser, closing up 144.4p, or 22.7%, at 780p. The other biggest risers were Vodafone, up 6.24p at 152.24p,

Astrazeneca, up 275p at 7,180, and Centrica, up 3.36p at 90.84p. All three have large overseas divisions which benefit from a falling pound.

The biggest fallers were all minimal movements, with DS Smith, down 6.3p at 369.2p, Sage, down 6.8p at 735.6p, Bunzl, down 13p at 2,145p, Flutter, down 36p at 6,850p, and

Pearson, down 4.8p at 922.2p.