FTSE 100 ends lower as sterling gains more than a cent against the greenback

• FTSE 100 down 19 points
• Sterling rises by 1.2 cents against the US dollar
• Man United shares rise despite ESL drama

5.15pm: Markets slide on both sides of the pond

The FTSE 100 retreated 19 points Monday, a 0.3% loss, to 7,000, while the FTSE 250 lost 31 points, 0.1%, to 22,491. 

“A quieter start to the week has seen stock markets drift back on a lack of news, with only the goings-on in European football providing some interest (for those keen on the game anyway),” IG Chief Market Analyst Chris Beauchamp.

Contributing to the slump is stronger sterling, which gained almost 1.2 cents against the greenback to hit US$1.3961.

In the US, the Dow was down 128 points, 0.4%, to 34,073 at midday. The Nasdaq fell 157 points, 1.1%, to 13,895, and the S&P 500 dropped 22 points, 0.5%, to 4,164.

“Aside from Coca-Cola, today has seen a lull in earnings season, although ’s figures tomorrow promise a return to a more exciting period and a shift away from the bank-dominated opening days of reporting season,” Beauchamp wrote. “Investors wil hope that earnings reports can provide fresh support in the other sessions of the week, given that the market is currently trading on high valuations and expectations and thus remains at risk of a sudden decline.”

Shares of () improved 0.6% to $54.02 after the company beat Street revenue and earnings expectations.

4.10pm: Sterling gains against US dollar 

London’s leading shares are lower on balance, as sterling adds more than a cent against the dollar on foreign exchange markets.

The FTSE 100 was down 16 points (0.2%) but the FTSE 250, whose constituents tend to prefer a strong exchange rate, was up 25 points (0.1%) at 22,548.

Sterling has risen by almost 1.2 cents against the greenback to hit US$1.3961.

“We continue to believe that the fast vaccination in the UK will keep offering support to sterling through upbeat recovery expectations for the UK economy. From a positioning perspective, this may imply that sterling may well remain the most overbought currency in the G10. As highlighted in previous positioning notes, GBP positioning in recent years had a tendency to be skewed towards net short positions due to the Brexit uncertainty factors. Now that this factor no longer affects GBP, speculative positioning should see more instances of overshooting towards net long territory, especially considering that the set of fundamentals is supportive for the currency,” said Francesco Pesole, a foreign-exchange strategist at ING.

Marks & Spencer Group PLC (), up 4.4% at 163.3p, is leading the FTSE 250 higher. It’s probably nothing to do with the Colin the Caterpillar dust-up with German retailer and more to do with a generally favourable attitude towards retailers that has also seen () harden 3.2% at 518.5p.

That benevolence seems to be restricted, however, to bricks and mortar store owners because online electrical goods flogger (), down 4.8% at 298.2p, is not getting any love.

2.48pm: Wall Street on the back foot

The main indices on Wall Street opened in the red on Monday as rising cases of coronavirus around the world rattled market sentiment.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.17% at 34,141 while the S&P 500 dropped 0.14% to 4,179 and the Nasdaq fell 0.25% to 14,015.

While cases are falling in the US, countries such as India and Brazil are experiencing ongoing heavy numbers of new cases, meaning the pandemic is far from over on a global scale.

In terms of company news, shares in football club were up 7.4% at US$17.36 in early deals, as investors seemed to be the only ones greeting the news of the club’s participation in the proposed European Super Leagues positively, in contrast to the uproar that has swept across the rest of the industry today.

Back in London, the FTSE 100 had shifted into reverse into late-afternoon and was down 17 points at 7,002 at around 2.45pm.

12.40pm: Lower start predicted for US…