May-related pound woes boost FTSE

The FTSE 100 rebounded on the back of a falling pound, after it was weakened by intense pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May’s leadership. London’s leading index closed trading up 5.27 points or 0.07 per cent at 7,334.19.

Sterling tumbled amid rumblings that Conservative cabinet members are making moves to oust May. The pound slid to its lowest in four months as she pleaded with MPS to let her fourth Brexit deal pass.

The pound dropped 0.34 per cent to $1.267 versus the US dollar and decreased 0.3 per cent to €1.136 versus the euro.

In wider economics, UK consumer price inflation edged up to 2.1 per cent from 1.9 per cent, but political uncertainty has driven movement in the currency.

In stocks, shares in Marks & Spencer closed down by 25.4p to 245.8p after it posted a 10 per cent drop in annual profits amid a sweeping overhaul that will see it shut another 110 stores.

The high-street b ellwether said it is clos - ing another 85 full-line stores and around 25 Simply Food outlets on top of the 35 full-line branches closed in 2018-19 under a previously announced restructure.

Royal Mail jumped despite reporting a dip in underlying profits and announcing that it will pay a smaller dividend from next year to support transformation plans. Its shares closed up 10.6p at 222p.

SSE slipped back in value – finishing the session down 37p at 1,008p – after it pledged to offload its under-pressure energy supply business by mid-2020 after shedding more than half a million customer accounts.