South African retail holding company Steinhoff will strengthen its presence in the British retail sector after agreeing a £597m (€716m) takeover of discount chain Poundland, it said yesterday.

The FTSE 100 Index gave up another 40 points today after a clutch of stocks went ex-dividend and an update from a US tech giant knocked confidence.

A string of stocks going ex-dividend were holding the London market back today - despite signs interest rates may not have to rise by as much as feared.