MARKET REPORT

BREXIT and trade war optimism boosted global markets yesterday, as Commons Speaker John Bercow blocked the Government’s planned meaningful vote on its Brexit deal.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was looking for support from MPs after pulling the vote on Saturday when they forced him to ask the EU to delay Brexit.

But Mr Bercow said that parliamentary conventions meant the Government could not bring the same vote again.

The FTSE 100 dipped in the immediate aftermath of the news, but it bounced back soon after, closing the day up 13.07 points at 7,163.64.

However the rise was considerably below the morning peak of 7,196.42.

“Mr Johnson is hoping to get support for his deal in the next few days, and that has lifted sentiment in the markets,” said David Madden, an analyst at CMC Markets.

Meanwhile, the market was boosted after Larry Kudlow, an economic adviser to US President Donald Trump, made positive noises over the country’s trade war with China.

“Things look pretty good,” he said. It helped push the FTSE higher despite downward pressure from the pound, which rose 0.45% to 1.2985 against the US dollar, said Connor Campbell, an analyst at Spreadex.

Sterling also rose against the euro, by 0.59% to 1.652.

In company news, private equity giant Advent International is ready to commit to the Government that it will protect UK jobs at Cobham as it seeks approval for its £4bn takeover of the defence firm.

Just Eat has posted rapidly growing sales in the third quarter despite a backdrop of “softer consumer spending”.

The food delivery company saw sales jump 25% to £247.5m in the three months to September, although this represented a slowdown from the prior half-year.

The top risers on the FTSE 100 were Auto Trader, up 21p at 551p, Melrose Industries, up 6.7p to 212.7p, IAG, up 16.4p to 525p, Centrica, up 2.2p to 72.2p, and DS Smith, up 8.7p at 347.5p.

The biggest fallers on the blue chip index were Prudential, down 140p to 1,366p, Smith and Nephew, down 162p to 1,667.5p, Just Eat, down 35.6p to 589.4p, Reckitt Benckiser, down 133p to 5,872p, and Croda International, down 102p to 4,628p.