German chancellor Angela Merkel secured a fourth term as expected but a weak performance from mainstream parties and a surge in support for the far-right AfD will make her task of forming a government more difficult.

Fears this will endanger necessary reform in the eurozone saw sterling gain ground on the euro and this, in turn, led to a downbeat start to the week for the FTSE 100, which derives 70% of its earnings from overseas.

London's West End real estate investor Shaftesbury (SHB) slips 0.4% to £10.09 as it warns economic uncertainty is impacting tenant demand for its larger properties. The company is still looking for tenants to fill its 21,000 square foot Thomas Neal's Warehouse property, for example.

Industrial distributor Essentra (ESNT) falls 1.4% to 499.1p as it cautions on an impact from the series of major storms which have hit the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in recent weeks. The extreme weather has shut down two packaging sites in Puerto Rico.

While the sites are said to be 'fundamentally intact' there are several factors which will prevent them coming back on line, the closures will cost between £0.5m and £0.75m a week although the company hopes to recover a good chunk of this through .

More minor disruption to operations in Houston and Florida is likely to hit profit by between £0.5m to £1m.

Affordable housebuilder MJ Gleeson (GLE) gains 4.9% to 650p as it reports pre-tax profit up 17% to £33m, cash flow up 42% at £19.7m and a 66% hike in the dividend to 24p. Management expressed confidence in the 'short and longer term outlook'.

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Issue Date: 25 Sep 2017