FTSE 100 lifted by weaker pound; Barclays slides as CEO steps down
By Bansari Mayur Kamdar
Nov 1 (Reuters) - A weaker pound helped lift UK's exporter-heavy FTSE 100 index on Monday with pharmaceutical stocks in the lead, while shares of British bank Barclays slipped after its chief executive officer stepped down.
Barclays was down 1.5% in morning trading, as the bank's CEO Jes Staley is to step down following a probe by British regulators into his ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"The news that the CEO has stepped down under these sorts of circumstances has sent shock waves through the City of London, and the share price has reacted accordingly," said Emma Wall, head of investment analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown.
"It is important to note nothing illegal has been confirmed, and at present the market is reacting to conjecture."
The FTSE 100 index rose 0.5%, extending October's gains, with drugmakers AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline among the top boosts, while the domestically focussed mid-cap index advanced 0.4%.
UK's FTSE 100 has lagged the pan-European STOXX 600 index , which hit a record high on Monday, as supply chain problems, a fuel crisis and interest rate hike worries weighed on domestic markets.
Investor focus is on the Bank of England meeting on Thursday with swaps pricing pointing to a better-than-even chance of the central bank raising interest rates for the first time since the pandemic.
"A few small rises will be absorbed by most firms, and higher rates are even good news for some sectors, like banks. But the BoE needs to be careful, raise too much too quickly and they will cause both an economic and market downturn as consumers and corporates struggle to service debt," Wall said.
British business sentiment fell slightly in October after touching its highest since the start of the pandemic, according to a survey by Lloyds Bank.
(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
