No sooner had traders breathed a sigh of relief as the “final” deadline for negotiations over a trade deal between the UK and EU was extended, they were hit with London being placed into Tier 3.
No sooner had traders breathed a sigh of relief as the “final” deadline for negotiations over a trade deal between the UK and EU was extended, they were hit with London being placed into Tier 3. The pound spent most of Monday rising on the extended deadline until the end of the year for a trade deal to be signed – rising more than 1% at points. But as markets closed, the growth fell back slightly following the Government placing London into the highest tier grouping. By late afternoon the pound was up 0.7% against the dollar at 1.332 and up 0.51% against the euro to 1.097 compared with the same time on Friday. As a result of the strong pound, the FTSE 100 index closed down 14.92 points, or 0.2%, at 6,531.83. David Madden, financial analyst at CMC Markets UK said the FTSE 100 is the underperformer of European markets. He added: “To a certain extent, today’s move is a reversal of Friday’s declines as housebuilders and banks are some of the biggest gainers on the market.
