Sterling and FTSE lift amid Brexit hope

Market report Emma Newlands

The pound climbed higher amid hopes that the UK Government may be on track to break a deadlock with the EU over the so- called Brexit divorce bill.

Sterling was up 0.2 per cent versus the US dollar at $ 1.323 and jumped more than 0.6 per cent to trade at € 1.127 versus the euro. The FTSE 100 also ended the day higher, up 8.78 points at 7,389.46. Investors were holding out hope that Brexit talks could progress after Prime Minister Theresa May said the UK would “honour [ its] commitments” and “no other European Union country needs fear that they will have to receive less or pay in more”.

David Madden, a market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said May appears amenable to “paying more away in order to speed up the negotiations. Getting support from her cabinet or the general public could be a different stor y altogether, but for now traders are happy to hear it.”

Shares in British Gas owner Centrica dropped 1.8p to 161.4p after saying it was scrapping standard gas and electricity tariffs for new customers, while SSE fell 15p to 1,331p after Ofgem launched an investigation into the energy firm’s “cheap - est tariff ” messaging to prepayment customers.

Away from the top tier, DFS rose 2p to 192.5p after receiving regulatory approval for its £ 25 million swoop for smaller rival Sofology.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 included Barclays, up 3.75p at 188.75p, Glencore, up 6.4p at 359.85p, and BAE Systems, up 9p at 544.5p. The biggest fallers included Mediclinic International, down 17p at 538.5p, Shire, down 99.5p at 3,579p, and Hammerson, down 7p at 526.5p. The technical products company rose after lifting its final dividend payout by 16 per cent, amid “strong” results for the full year. The firm and Mediclinic International were the worst FTSE 100 performers, after a permanent breakdown in takeover talks between the two.