The FTSE 100 fell 1.5 per cent after opening on Tuesday, as the pound climbed to its highest level since February after Scottish election results over the weekend and outweighed the gains in mining stocks.
The blue chip FTSE 100 dropped 107 points to 7,016.76 after reaching the highest levels for over a year on Monday. The FTSE 250 fell 1 per cent to 22,425.16.
The Sterling gained more than 1.5 cents to trade above $ 1.41 against the US currency for the first time since late February, after the SNP had fallen just short of securing an overall majority in last week’s election to the Scottish parliament and the Bank of England’s upbeat forecasts for growth and employment.
Meanwhile, stocks at Wall Street closed lower on Monday with Dow Jones Industrial Average snapping a three-day streak of record closing highs, falling 34 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 34,742. The S&P 500 also lost 44 points, or 1.04 per cent, to 4,188 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 350 points, or 2.55 per cent, to 13,401.
On Tuesday, Asia-Pacific shares also declined following the Wall Street sell-off in tech stocks and as China reports inflation data. Japan’s Nikkei 225 crashed over 800 points by noon and Mainland Chinese stocks saw some recovery from the lowest levels of 3,384 and traded around 3,418, down by 9 points.
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MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down over 1 per cent, with Australian stocks off 0.99 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 2 per cent.
Indian indices were also trading lower on Tuesday, snapping a four day gaining streak following weak global cues. Sensex opened over 350 points lower and Nifty 50 around a 100 points down.