The FTSE 100 index closed at record highs on Tuesday, after nine days of consecutive gains broke a near 20-year record.
The bluechip stock index hit its longest winning streak since 2009, and hit nine consecutive record highs for the first time ever. On Tuesday the FTSE broke the previous record hit in May 1997, an eight-day run sparked by Tony Blair’s landslide win of the general election.
The latest boost for investors has come mainly from the weakness of the pound since the uncertainty created by the Brexit vote last June. Traditionally the FTSE 100 rises when the pound is weak, as it is largely made up of multinational corporations that make a proportion of their income overseas. The weak pound makes their income worth more in the UK.
Sterling has lost more than 18 percent against the dollar and is hovering close to 31-year lows, excluding October’s flash crash. Despite making a modest recovery since the referendum, it remains down 12 percent against the euro.
The pound sunk further again over the weekend after Prime Minister Theresa May hinted that a so-called ‘hard Brexit’ was on the cards, adding that it was unlikely that the UK could mix-and-match elements of EU membership with total freedom in other respects. She added that immigration controls were likely to be put above access to the single market.
The FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) has now risen around 1.9 per cent so far in 2017, according to Thomson Reuters data. The benchmark index is currently up 0.22 percent at 7,291.16 (1007GMT).