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Europe
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Britain's FTSE 100 stock index hits record as pound tanks

Associated Press
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde speaks with Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond after a news conference at World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings at IMF headquarters in Washington, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde speaks with Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond after a news conference at World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings at IMF headquarters in Washington, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) (The Associated Press)

LONDON – The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares has struck a record high amid hopes that many of its constituent companies will benefit from the pound's slide in currency markets.

While the pound has tanked following the June vote to leave the European Union, most of the FTSE 100 stocks have surged. The rally is due to the fact that the drop in the pound, while a drag on consumers' and businesses' spending abroad, is potentially good for those British firms that already have big business interests outside the U.K.

On Tuesday, while the pound fell another 0.9 percent to $1.2250 following more downbeat projections over the cost of Brexit, the FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent to its new peak of 7,129.83.