At the close: Pound slides on scary economic data- but FTSE rides higher
It's been a rough day for the pound after data released today showed a "dramatic deterioration" in the UK economy.
Markit's UK purchasing managers' index (PMI) dropped to 47.7 in July, down to an 87-month low from 52.4 in June. Both output and new orders fell for the first time since 2012.
Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said business activity fell "at the fastest rate since the height of the global financial crisis in early-2009".
The pound plunged as a result, falling to $1.3083 in late afternoon trading in London.
The FTSE 100 closed up 0.46 per cent. The top riser today was Vodafone, which finished 4.86 per cent higher at 235.56p, after the company beat expectations with its revenues in its first quarter. EasyJet was the biggest faller, with its share price closing down by 3.75 per cent at 1,050.73p.
Read more: Vodafone beats expectations despite UK market decline
Chris Beauchamp, senior market analyst at IG, said: "A dire set of PMI numbers for the UK, which will be taken by those once in the 'Remain' camp as evidence of the dire impact of the Brexit vote, caused the pound to shed much of the (admittedly limited) ground gained in the past week."