The pound sterling posted its biggest weekly gain against the US dollar in seven years.
The sterling soared after the High Court ruled that Parliament must give its approval before proceeding with the UK’s exit from the European Union, ending the week almost 3% higher against US dollar.
The pound currently trades at $1.25185.
Now that Brexit must face a parliamentary vote there is a higher chance of a ‘Soft Brexit’, which would keep Britain in the single market.
The pound also benefited from last minute fears that Donald Trump might win the US election next week – Trump has closed the gap on Democrat Hillary Clinton in the polls over the past week.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 had its worst week in 10 months
The index dropped by 1.4% on Friday to end at 6,693.26 – a fifth straight daily loss and a 4.3% decline for the week. Only six FTSE 100 firms stayed in positive territory on Friday.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 Index were Hikma Pharmaceuticals, down 119p to 1,626p, Dixons Carphone down 17.8p to 323.7p, Persimmon down 81p to 1,677p, and Royal Bank of Scotland down 8.9p to 185p.
Accendo Markets analysts Mike van Dulken and Henry Croft said in a note that the loss “comes down to…politics, politics everywhere [with] investors concerned about the outcome of the U.S. election next Tuesday, what the U.K. High Court ruling means for Article 50 and Brexit and a lively French presidential debate before primary elections in two weeks.”
Market concern over the US presidential election spread across other parts of Europe too.
Germany’s Dax fell by 0.7% and the Cac 40 in France dropped by 0.8%.