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As it happened: Stocks rally as defence shares surge on John Healey as Chancellor

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Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, smiling and gesturing, speaks at a podium.
John Healey was a surprise pick for Chancellor (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

Welcome back to the City PM FTSE 100 liveblog.

It’s Tuesday and the markets have been adjusting to the first full day of Andy Burnham’s Labour government.

Burnham shocked Westminster and the City on Monday evening when he appointed John Healey as his Chancellor, just weeks after he had resigned in protest as defence secretary.

Healey has experience in the Treasury but the Chancellorship had been viewed as a toss-up between Shabana Mahmood and Ed Miliband.

Healey’s appointment was greeted by a marginal rise in sterling and the initial reaction among analysts was positive, Reuters reported.

“Healey brings Treasury experience and is a sign that Burnham ​will respect the bond markets as ​a check on his radicalism, ⁠rather than plough ahead with significant changes that could unsettle the fiscal position,” said Richard Carter, Quilter Cheviot’s head of fixed interest research.

But this cames shortly after Burnham spooked the bond markets, first by pledging a “new economic model” and later by telling reporters that he would embrace “fiscal flexibility” with his spending commitments.

The yield on ten-year gilts rose eight basis points to 5.049 per cent yesterday and the value of the pound weakened by 0.29 per cent to 1.341 against the US dollar on Monday evening. Gilt traders will be on alert today for Andy Burnham’s announcement of a raft of cost of living measures.

Burnham’s first speech as Prime Minister promised “breathing space” for households struggling with the cost of living, prompting a host of City figures to warn government that they need breathing space, too.

“The cost of living and the cost of doing business are two sides of the same coin, so it’s vital that Prime Minister also gives firms ‘breathing space’ from cost pressures,” said Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce.

We’ll be bringing you the latest market updates and analysis as the day develops.

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