London close: Sterling slump after surprise election poll result shoves FTSE higher
Stocks in London got an unexpected shove higher on Friday as a new election poll revealed a narrowing Tory lead over Labour, causing sterling to sour and helping the FTSE advance.
The latest polls from YouGov showed that Theresa May's Tories had only a five-point lead over Jeremy Corbyn's Labour.
"The precipitate fall in the pound is undoubtedly helping, with the currency taking a rather dramatic tumble below $1.28 as the script for the general election is torn up," said IG's Chris Beauchamp.
Jasper Lawler at London Capital Group said the prospect of currency-enhanced foreign earnings for FTSE firms was outstripping the political uncertainty triggered by the poll.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.40% to 7,547.63, and the FTSE 250 was 0.29% higher to 20,024.92. These were record closing highs for both indices.
Over in Europe the mood was sour, with much the same story unfolding in early US deals.
Safe-haven gold was enjoying a boost, while West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude were making cautious progress after yesterday's Opec-inspired sell-off. This helped both BP and Shell.
The cartel extended its production curbs by nine months and into 2018, which disappointed some who wanted something longer and seeing others jump into profit-taking.
Mining companies Fresnillo and Randgold Resources did well alongside the rise in gold prices, and better than the rises seen among their general-commodity peers.
Returning to sterling, Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK observed that today's marked weakness in the British currency had helped push both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 to new highs.
"On the flip side of the coin broader European markets have continued to struggle despite economic data which to all intents and purposes points to a continued improvement in economic activity across the whole of Europe," he said.
In specific blue-chip news, Informa advanced after it reiterated its full-year expectations and said first-quarter trading in Global Exhibitions remained strong, while trading in the events business was steady.
Retail property developer Hammerson nudged up after saying it has exchanged contracts for the sale of two retail parks to clients of BMO Real Estate Partners for £80m.
RBS was the biggest loser as the High Court pushed back until 1 June the start of a trial with a shareholder action group claiming compensation over its 2008 rights issue. The group is refusing to accept a settlement in their £700m legal claim against the bank, with the state-backed lender having offered about £200m, or 82p per share held.
Testing and certification group Intertek was in the red despite posting a 14% jump in revenues for the first four months of the year and saying it was on track to deliver its 2017 targets.
Credit checking agency Experian was weaker as Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to 'sell' from 'hold' and cut the price target to 1,460p from 1,560p.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,547.63 0.40%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,024.92 0.29%
techMARK (TASX) 3,630.91 0.68%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Informa (INF) 688.50p 5.84%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,175.00p 2.58%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 873.00p 2.52%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 5,591.00p 1.75%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 400.00p 1.65%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,692.00p 1.62%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,643.50p 1.58%
Wolseley (WOS) 4,988.00p 1.55%
WPP (WPP) 1,737.00p 1.52%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,200.00p 1.48%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 71.74p -1.86%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,651.50p -1.83%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,035.00p -1.80%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 261.60p -1.65%
DCC (DCC) 7,290.00p -1.62%
Provident Financial (PFG) 3,091.00p -1.31%
Standard Life (SL.) 383.90p -1.23%
Centrica (CNA) 203.20p -1.22%
Barclays (BARC) 211.65p -1.12%
SSE (SSE) 1,519.00p -1.11%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Restaurant Group (RTN) 350.60p 10.46%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 5,760.00p 8.47%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 326.10p 7.62%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 285.80p 7.48%
Capita (CPI) 569.50p 4.30%
Allied Minds (ALM) 154.60p 4.25%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,207.00p 4.05%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 436.80p 3.80%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 811.00p 3.71%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,285.00p 3.68%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 389.00p -9.70%
ZPG Plc (ZPG) 360.10p -3.79%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 892.00p -3.04%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 246.30p -2.53%
Britvic (BVIC) 705.00p -2.49%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 617.00p -2.37%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 732.00p -2.27%
Ibstock (IBST) 235.80p -2.16%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 427.20p -2.04%
Cranswick (CWK) 2,931.00p -1.97%