FTSE slumps as sterling riding high

London’s top flight index slumped into the red as sterling touched a six-month high against the US dollar after investors were left underwhelmed by President Donald Trump’s tax plans.

The FTSE 100 Index closed down 51.55 points at 7,237.17, while the pound enjoyed an uplift on the greenback’s weakness in response to a lack of detail outside Mr Trump’s broad pledge to slash corporation tax to 15% from 35%.

The UK currency was also making gains against the euro after the European Central Bank (ECB) kept its stimulus programme and interest rates unchanged, despite conceding that the eurozone economy is becoming stronger.

Sterling was up 0.4% against the US dollar at 1.289 and was 0.7% higher versus the euro at 1.185.

Across Europe, Germany’s Dax was down 0.2% and the Cac 40 in France slipped down by 0.3%.