LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Books Longest Stretch Of All-time Highs On Record As Pound Slumps

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Supermarkets rally after upbeat Christmas sales data

U.K. stocks marked their 11th consecutive gain on Tuesday, and a ninth record close in a row as the pound supported appetite for the shares of British multinational companies.

The FTSE 100 index gained 0.5% to close at 7,275.47, building on 0.4% advance from Monday. The finish represented the U.K. benchmark's longest string of record closes since FactSet began collecting data in 1986.

The upbeat trading mood came as sterling continued to slide following comments from Prime Minister Theresa May over the weekend. She indicated the government was willing to give up access to the European Union single market in return for full control of the U.K.'s borders, hinting at a so-called "hard Brexit".

The pound lost 1% against the dollar (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-kicks-off-week-higher-still-juiced-by-jobs-data-2017-01-09) on Monday and dropped another 0.5% on Tuesday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/steam-comes-out-of-dollar-on-fears-trump-could-disappoint-this-week-2017-01-10) to trade at around $1.2113. A weaker pound helps lift FTSE 100 companies as it tends to aid multinationals that generate the bulk of their revenue outside of Britain.

Supermarket cheer: A rally for supermarket chains also buoyed the FTSE 100 on Tuesday after a survey by Nielsen Homescan showed U.K. grocers had their best holiday season in four years (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-grocers-had-best-christmas-in-4-years-survey-2017-01-10). Separately, a survey by Kantar Worldpanel showed top grocers losing market share (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/aldi-lidl-lead-in-christmas-sales-growth-kantar-2017-01-10) even as sales rose, as discount retailers Aldi and Lidl gained ground.

Shares of Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC (MRW.LN) closed 3.6% higher, Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) (TSCO.LN) surged to end 6% higher, as the supermarket said it would close two distributions centers in the U.K. and cut 1,000 jobs. Meanwhile, J Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN) added 1.6%.

Miners gain: Mining companies advanced as copper prices jumped sharply (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/copper-prices-buoyed-by-chinese-inflation-data-2017-01-10). Shares of Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) finished up 7.2%, marking their best daily advance since Nov. 22. Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) (RIO) (RIO) gained 5.1% and Antofagasta PLC (ANTO.LN) advanced 2.7%.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 10, 2017 12:14 ET (17:14 GMT)

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