Markets steady as Boris victory fails to shock

The markets showed very little movement yesterday as the confirmation of Boris Johnson as the next prime minister came as no surprise to traders already braced for his victory.

The expectation that the MP would win the Tory leadership race had been priced into most markets. Sterling was down 0.27% to 1.244 US dollars, but up 0.23% on the euro to 1.116.

Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, said this was in line with the currency’s historic lows in recent weeks.

“Currency markets in particular have been positioning themselves for a Boris Johnson win for weeks now, fine combing every single of his political comments for views of where he will take the country over the next few months,” she said.

“His staunch Brexit-underany-cost stance has spooked sterling traders and the currency has been gradually declining since he became the lead contender for the position.”

The FTSE 100 gained 41.93 points to close 0.56% higher at 7,556.86. It lagged behind the German Dax, up 1.64%, and the French Cac, up 0.92%.

Oil prices were in the red following the latest developments from the Middle East. A barrel of Brent Crude oil was down 0.33%, trading at 63.1 US dollars.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Melrose Industries up 9.3p to 192.9p, NMC Health up 93p to 2,420p, Smurfit Kappa Group up 96p to 2,672p and DS Smith up 12.6p to 379.6p. The biggest fallers were Whitbread down 142p to 4,543p, Just Eat down 18.6p to 622.2p, Auto Trader down 12.6p to 531.4p and Tesco down 5.3p to 229.9p.