Market overview: FTSE closes down as surge in 'yes' campaign popularity in Scotland hits the pound
1630: Close The uncertainty surrounding Scotland’s future sent the pound tumbling on Monday, with the currency reaching a 10-month low at $1.61. ARM Holdings was the biggest riser on the FTSE 100, after it announced it is due to increase earnings by 10% this year and by 22% next year while also Tesco registered a marginal improvement after weeks in the doldrums. Associated British Foods was the biggest faller, losing over 5%, after poor results from its sugar division and Hargreaves Lansdown continued the negative trend it established last week and was the second-biggest faller.Geopolitical tension was on the rise again in eastern Ukraine after shelling and gunfire on Sunday night threatened to break the ceasefire that began on Friday, while the EU is expected to implement a new round of sanctions against Russia on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 closed down 20.33 points at 6,834.77
Abrdn
156.60p
16:44 14/05/24
ARM Holdings
1,700.00p
17:09 02/09/16
Burberry Group
1,188.50p
16:50 14/05/24
Hargreaves Lansdown
877.00p
16:54 14/05/24
Imperial Brands
1,878.50p
16:43 14/05/24
NATWEST GROUP
323.60p
17:15 14/05/24
Tesco
313.90p
16:49 14/05/24
1334: US stock futures are lower as investors pause for breath following five weeks of gains that sent the S&P 500 to another all-time high of 2,007.71 on Friday. S&P 500 futures are down 0.1%, Dow futures are 0.1% lower, while the Nasdaq is broadly flat in pre-market trade. Market analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari UK said that Monday's session in the States is "looking very quiet" with no major economic data due out.
1414: Strategists at Deutsche Bank have raised their year-end price target for the S&P 500 to 2,150 points from 2,000.
1145: Burberry has been added to Bank of America Merrill Lynch's list of most preferred consumer stocks while Imperial Tobacco has been removed.
1000: Latest sanctions on Russia are expected to be formally implemented later in the day, according to the European Comission.
0930: The Sentix index of investor confidence worsened in September to a reading of -9.8 from 2.7 in the month before (consensus: 1.4).
0900: Stocks have begun the session weaker following the release of the latest poll results that show the ‘Yes’ campaign having achieved a small lead in Scotland. As expected, that is taking the wind out of cable. It is now down by 0.95% to 1.6170. Standard Life and RBS are now to be found at the bottom of the pile given the risks they run that Scotland might secede. Acting as a backdrop, China’s trade surplus unexpectedly widened during the month of August to reach 49.8bn yuan (consensus: 40.6bn yuan), as imports unexpectedly fell by 2.4% versus the same month of a year ago, instead of rising by 3% as was forecast. FTSE 100 down 25 points to 6,830.