FTSE 100 dips but stays above 7,000 amid rise in pound, Sensex opens in green

London’s FTSE 100 was dragged lower on Monday and ended the day’s trade in red, although it managed to stay above 7,000, a landmark it attained last week for the first time in over a year.

The index of leading shares ended 19 points or 0.29 per cent down, at exactly 7,000, while the domestically focused FTSE 250 closed 31 points, or 0.1 per cent down, at 22,490.

The drop came amid a strong pound as the currency gained 1 per cent over a weakening dollar to hit a one-month high, and 0.7 per cent against the euro, with £1 buying $1.4 and €1.16.

Shares of manufacturing company Melrose Industries took the biggest hit on the FTSE 100 after it decided to sell its air management unit. The company’s share value dropped 4.61 per cent.

The UK market awaits some important data this week on the labour market, inflation, retail sales and flash PMIs.

Meanwhile, stocks at Wall Street tumbled from record highs, as the three leading indexes closed broadly lower on Monday, dragged by technology shares. The S&P 500 fell 0.5 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1 per cent. Small-company stocks did worse than the rest of the market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4 per cent.

Leading the downturn on S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite was Tesla, with the electric car company’s shares falling as much as 6.5 per cent following the fatal car crash in Texas on Saturday, which left two people dead.

Asian stocks also faced some turbulence in the Tuesday morning trade as leading indexes remained lower except South Korea’s Kospi which saw an upward trend, and Chinese markets recovering after early hours.

Japan’s Nikkei led in losses as it traded with a low of over 500 points or 1.7 per cent around noon. Taiwan Index traded in red throughout the session at a low of 41 points, while Hang Seng also trades with a low of 23 points, after opening over 40 points lower on Tuesday.

Indian markets are showing recovery as they opened in green on Tuesday after the 2 per cent fall in the previous session on Covid-19 concerns, with the Indian government’s decision to vaccinate everyone above 18 years of age from 1 May buoying investor sentiment.

The S&P BSE Sensex traded around 48,430 levels, up 480 points, and the Nifty50 index hovered around 14,500. Pharma companies saw a surge following the government orders, along with banking, auto and metal stocks.