Pound pegged back as FTSE climbs higher

London’s top flight closed higher while the pound was held back by Brexit worries following Theresa May’s plea to Jeremy Corbyn to help end the Westminster deadlock.

The FTSE 100 ended the day up 27.16 points at 7,418.28p, crossing the 7,400-mark but not managing to keep pace with its European peers.

David Madden, market analyst at CMC, said: “Equity markets in Europe hit a six-month high, but the FTSE 100 underperformed.

“Stronger-than-expected services PMI reports from China and the eurozone, along with optimism surrounding Us-china trade talks, boosted sentiment.”

In stocks, SSE closed in negative territory after the energy giant was fined £700,000 by regulator Ofgem for missing last year’s target to install gas smart meters for customers.

The watchdog said the supplier missed the deadline for hitting its 2018 gas meter target. Shares closed down 12p at 1,166p.

AA shares were up 0.7p at 91p even as the roadside assistance firm blamed hefty investments for a dramatic decline in profit. Pre-tax earnings came to £53 million for the year to January, compared with £141m a year earlier.

Sterling had a mixed day, beginning in the ascendancy after May invited Corbyn for crunch talks aimed at dealing with Brexit.

After Tuesday’s late surge, the pound trimmed gains and stood 0.1 per cent up versus the dollar at $1.314. It was down by the same amount against the euro at €1.170 at the market close.

It was knocked by weak services data, which showed the industry in contraction for the first time since the Brexit vote.