FTSE 100 Rally Above 7,000 No Cause for Joy to U.S. Traders
- Index of U.K. megacaps still below pre-Brexit level in dollars
- FTSE 100 Index climbs above 2015’s all-time high intraday
FTSE 100 Extends Gains, Breaks Through 7,000
As prospects of Brexit firm up, a fresh weakening in the pound has pushed the FTSE 100 Index of U.K. megacaps within 0.4 percent of a fresh record. Not that foreign investors, who own more than half the nation’s equities, are rejoicing.
While the equity benchmark has surged 13 percent this year in local currency, it has declined about 2 percent in dollar terms, the biggest underperformance since the global financial crisis. Exporters rose as the pound tumbled to its weakest level since 1985 after Prime Minister Theresa May said she’ll start the process of withdrawing the U.K. from the European Union by March 2017, while three senior figures in her administration said financial-services companies will get no special favors in Brexit negotiations.