LONDON MARKETS: British Pound Comes Under Fresh Pressure As Parliament Resumes

By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch

The British pound dropped sharply Wednesday as Parliament resumed, a day after a Supreme Court ruling that the prorogation was unlawful.

The pound dropped to $1.2384 from $1.2491 on Tuesday.

The attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, said that there will be an election motion coming shortly. The Fixed Term Parliament Act requires two-thirds support to hold an early election, and so far the Labour Party has declined to grant an election to Prime Minister Boris Johnson with polls showing Conservatives with a solid lead.

   The FTSE 100   meanwhile fell 0.5% to 7254.79, a loss that wasn't as steep as the rest of Europe. 

Gainers included two tobacco companies, British American Tobacco (BATS.LN) and Imperial Brands (IMB.LN) , both of which rose after the Altria-Philip Morris deal talks collapsed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/philip-morris-and-altria-merger-talks-are-off-as-juul-ceo-steps-down-amid-vaping-fears-2019-09-25).

U.K. grocery chain J Sainsbury (SBRY.LN) rose 2% as the company reported improving sales momentum as same-store sales excluding fuel slipped 0.2% in the second quarter. At its capital markets day, it said it can structurally reduce costs by around GBP500 million over five years. It said full-year underlying pretax profit will be in line with expectations.

Aston Martin Lagonda (AML.LN) shares fell 5% after pricing a $150 million debt offering. The notes will pay 12%, and an option to draw up to $100 million will yield 15% if tapped.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 25, 2019 10:20 ET (14:20 GMT)

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