British finance minister, Rishi Sunak, will be Britain’s next prime minister after his rivals quit the race, which analysts said had relieved some of the nervousness around the outlook for the UK economy, boosting domestic markets.
The 42-year old will become the country’s third prime minister in less than two months, after his predecessor, Liz Truss, was brought down after just six weeks in office by an economic programme that roiled markets.Sunak has yet to speak publicly but told Conservative lawmakers his first priority was delivering economic stability, and then he would look to fulfill the party’s 2019 election promises, lawmaker Iain Duncan Smith said.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, on Monday said it had upgraded UK gilts to neutral from underweight and said “perceptions of fiscal credibility had improved, though not fully.”
The pound bounced back into positive territory against the dollar, having briefly turned negative, while consumer-sensitive stocks pushed the blue-chip FTSE 100 higher on the day.
MARKET REACTION:
STOCKS: FTSE 100 rises 0.6% on the day, supported by consumer sectors and industrials, but is underperforming the broader European markets, where the STOXX 600 is up 1.2%.
FOREX: Sterling falls 0.1% against the dollar to $1.1291, having ricocheted between the day’s high of $1.1402 and the low of $1.1275 in volatile trading.
(Reuters)