The FTSE reaches another record high as sterling continues to slide after Theresa May’s single market comments

The FTSE reached yet another record high this morning as sterling continued to fall, as comments by the Prime Minister over the weekend indicating that remaining within the single market will not be a priority during Brexit negotiations continued to take their toll.

The FTSE 100 rose to a peak of 7,261.16 at the start of trading, before falling back below 7,250.

The pound fell as low as $1.2144 in early trading, down 0.14 per cent. That's still ahead of the intraday low of $1.1841 it hit during the so-called flash crash in October – but remains at its lowest level against the dollar since then.

Meanwhile, the pound fell 0.35 per cent against the euro, to €1.1458.

A weaker pound boosts the FTSE 100, many of which earn large proportions of their profits abroad. Earnings in US dollars are 19 per cent more valuable at today's prices than their pre-Brexit high point.

Sterling began its decline over the weekend, after Theresa May hinted the UK may discard the existing terms of European trade during Brexit negotiations, in favour of signing a fresh deal with the bloc.

"We are leaving. We are coming out. We are not going to be a member of the EU any longer," she told Sky News.

However, yesterday she blamed sterling's fall on press reports. 

"I'm tempted to say that the people who are getting it wrong are those who print things saying I'm talking about a hard Brexit, [and that] it is absolutely inevitable there's a hard Brexit.

"I don't accept the terms hard and soft Brexit," she said during an event at the Charity Commission.

"[Today's fall] leaves sterling firmly at 10 week and 2 month lows [against the dollar and the euro] respectively," said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex. 

"With the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn set to deliver a speech claiming the UK can be better off out of the EU… it might be another rough day for the pound."