LONDON — Britain’s benchmark share index, the FTSE 100, is trading at a record high on Tuesday, breaking new ground for the second consecutive day.
Early in trading, the index has gained roughly 0.3% to hit 7,478, easily surpassing the 7,460 peak seen on Monday.
Here is the chart as of 8.45 a.m. BST (3.45 a.m. ET):
Investing.com
Leading the FTSE higher in early trade is telecoms giant Vodafone, which has gained 3.8% after the company confirmed it will raise its dividend, and posted solid numbers after a troubled year.
At the other end of the index, budget airline EasyJet is more than 6% lower after confirming on Tuesday that it made a pre-tax loss of £212 million, well above the £21 million loss it recorded in the first half of last year but in-line with its guidance. The airline blames the late Easter this year and a £82 million hit from unfavourable currency moves.
The FTSE 100’s new record high is just one of more than a dozen all-time peaks the index has hit since Christmas 2016, as it continues to benefit from the subdued pound in the aftermath of the Brexit vote last summer.
Though a weaker pound might seem like bad news for UK stocks, about 70% of the revenue of the companies that make up the FTSE 100 is derived from abroad, meaning they make more money when sterling is weak. That is because the index is full of mining companies, oil firms, and pharmaceutical giants that use the UK as a base but tend to denominate their assets in dollars.
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