Stronger pound pulls UK’s FTSE 100 lower in early trade

(Reuters) – The UK’s fell in broad-based declines on Thursday as a strengthening pound weighed on the exporter-heavy index, while elevated government bond yields also dampened risk appetite.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 fell 0.4% by 0813 GMT, while the more domestically-focussed midcap index lost 0.7%.

The personal goods sector led declines early on, falling 2.2%.

Among individual stocks, Asia-focussed lender HSBC was the biggest drag on the FTSE 100, falling 1%.

The pound rose 0.2% against the dollar, while British government bond yields also edged higher, in line with their global counterparts.

DS Smith fell 1.4% after the cardboard maker said its CEO Miles Roberts will retire and recorded a 15% slump in its half-year profit before tax.

Media firm Future lost 15.8% after reporting full-year results.

Smart Metering Systems jumped 41.9% after the energy infrastructure firm said a company owned by funds advised by KKR and its affiliates will acquire it in an all-cash deal of about 1.3 billion pounds ($1.63 billion).

(This story has been refiled to remove extraneous words in paragraph 6)