Santa rally fizzles out as sterling’s rise takes toll

THE Santa rally well and truly ran out of steam for the FTSE

100 on the last day of 2019.

Investors had been enjoying an 11-day rise on the blue-chip index, including nine days of gains following Boris Johnson’s decisive Tory victory in the election.

But the FTSE 100 dipped 0.6pc, or 44.61 points, to 7542.44, during a half-day of trading curtailed for New Year’s Eve.

It was the second consecutive day of losses, drawing a line under its longest climb for three years, as a stronger pound dragged down internationally exposed companies. Sterling rose 1.2pc against the dollar over the course of the day to around $1.328, its highest level in two weeks.

A rise in sterling generally has the opposite effect on the FTSE 100, since a more valuable domestic currency means overseas earnings will be worth less.

Oil major BP was down 1.4pc, or 6.9p ,at 471.6p, while Glaxosmithkline dipped 1.1pc, or 19p, to 1779p and British American

Tobacco slipped 0.8pc, or 25p, to 3231.5p. As most traders had vacated the City for the festive period, the markets were quiet.

But fund managers at property trust Regional REIT were keeping busy, announcing they had scooped up a ‘ valuable’ office in Scotland for £10.3m.

The three-floor workspace in Edinburgh Park is let to aviation business John Menzies, for an annual rent of £880,000.

While political uncertainty and Brexit has put many investors off buying property in the UK, Stephen Inglis, the chief executive of London and Scottish Property Investment Management which manages Regional REIT, said these issues helped it seize the property.

He added: ‘We have been able to take advantage of uncertainty in the UK political and economic outlook at the time of agreeing this deal. This has allowed us to acquire an asset on a park dominated by large institutional investors and a market that was simply not previously within our reach.’

The firm’ shares fell 0.2pc, or 0.2p, to 113.2p.

CLS Holdings, another property investment firm, delivered an altogether more pessimistic take, selling 19 regional offices in the UK for £65m to a Singaporean business, Elite Capital Partners.

It said ‘major lease re-gears’ over the last year, as cash- strapped tenants negotiate lower rents and more forgiving terms, meant the properties were essentially less able to generate strong returns.

Fredrik Widlund, the company’s chief executive, said CLS was now focused on properties in London and the South East. Shares climbed 1.3pc, or 4p, to 301.5p.

Elsewhere in the property world,

Urban Exposure, which provides funding for homes and student accommodation, released a strong year-end update.

The company, which has so far committed more than £1bn of lending since it floated on London’s junior market AIM in May 2018, said operating costs for 2019 would be lower than expected.

This was because some bonus payments were smaller than predicted, and because it hired fewer people than it budgeted for.

Performance slipped over the past year, and in November it received a restructuring idea from activist investor R20, run by controversial entrepreneur Robert Tchenguiz. Yesterday, it said it was still reviewing ‘ a number of different proposals’. Shares edged up 3.7pc, or 2.5p, to 70p.

Coal companies have been losing favour as environmental concerns grow stronger, and Prairie

Mining was no exception. It slid 12.8pc, or 1.5p, to 10.25p as it claimed it was the victim of ‘discriminatory treatment’ by Polish government authorities.