Pound buoys London market

The FTSE 100 benefited from a falling pound yesterday, as Brexit jitters once again sent sterling down against the dollar.

The currency was given a slight boost following the announcement that Prime Minister Boris Johnson would seek an election on December 12 – but his plan was only confirmed once the stock market closed for the day.

At the closing bell, the FTSE 100 was up 67.51 points at 7,328.25.

Once again, a falling pound helps internationally focused companies that make up the majority of the index because they tend to work in dollars and foreign investors see the stock as “cheaper”.

The pound was down 0.4% at $1.2855, and was down against the euro by 0.2% at 1.1573.

The Cac 40 in Paris and the Dax 30 in

At the closing bell, the FTSE 100 was up 67.51 points

Frankfurt both ended up 0.6%.

In company news, RBS kicked off the UK bank reporting season with a third quarter loss, after taking a £900 million hit from PPI claims.

The part-nationalised lender reported pre-tax operating losses of £8m for the three months to September 30, down from £961m a year ago.

Shares closed down 7.8p at 225.9p.

The Competition and Markets Authority announced it was considering whether to investigate Ovo’s deal to buy SSE’s retail business for £500m. Shares in SSE fell 6.5p to 1,316p.

The top risers on the FTSE 100 yesterday included M&G, up 13p to 227p, Astrazeneca, up 384p to 7,303p, Aveva, up 194p at 4,114p, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, which rose 23p to 495p, and Relx, up 70.5p to 1,840p.

Deal value has increased

More than £32 million of venture capital (VC) was invested into Scottish startups in the third quarter of 2019, according to KPMG’s latest Venture Pulse survey.

The figures, compiled by Pitchbook, reveals that deal volume has dipped slightly, from 16 deals in the previous quarter to 13 in Q3, but deal value has increased from £23.8m in the second quarter of this year to £32.42m in quarter three.

The start-ups that benefited from funding included life sciences business, firms focused on agri-tech, and manufacturing, with nine based in Edinburgh and the Borders, three in Glasgow and West Central Scotland, and one in Dundee.

The most sizeable deal in the last quarter involved pharmaceutical and biotech firm MedAnnex.

The Edinburgh-based business raised more than £11m in venture capital backing, to assist it with its pioneering work developing new treatments for conditions including autoimmune diseases.

UK-wide, VC investments have also risen, up 19% on the previous quarter, to more than £2.4 billion.

Commenting on the data, Amy Burnett, manager in KPMG’s Enterprise team, said: “VC investment in Scotland’s fast-growth businesses is as robust as ever and it appears Brexit and other uncertainties have failed to slow the appetite for supporting tech-focused industry disrupters.”