Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as FTSE 100 hits alltime high of 8076 points Full story: FTSE 100 hits record high as shares rise amid hopes of interest rate cuts Explainer: What’s behind the record FTSE 100 high? FTSE 100 is an international laggard despite its record high The London stock market is benefitting from expectations that interest rates will be cut sooner in the UK than in the US. The Financial Times reports this morning that some traders are building up bets that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates higher, as inflationary pressures in America look stubbornly high. With economic growth still lagging many of its G7 peers, the UK has turned this to its strength in the fight against inflation, which last month fell below that of the US and saw Governor Andrew Bailey announce that this data shows the UK is “pretty much on track” with the central bank’s forecasts. “This has led investors to anticipate that rate cuts could arrive in the UK well before the US, weakening sterling by just over 3% against the dollar so far this year, and continuing a long running trend that has seen the pound decline more than 25% against the dollar in the past decade, a period over which the FTSE 100 has delivered only around a quarter of the returns generated by the S&P 500. Continue reading...

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