London Report: Ukraine and poor data weigh on FTSE but easyJet climbs
THE FTSE 100 yesterday fell after being pummelled by disappointing economic data and growing fears over the crisis in Ukraine.
The FTSE 100 fell 46.32 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 6,636.16 points after earlier hitting a three-month low of 6,588.43 points.
Pharma stocks were the biggest fallers as investors worried that interest from US suitors might dry up.
Healthcare groups Shire, Smith & Nephew and Astrazeneca were down between 3.6 per cent and 4.1 per cent. Their fall came after three prominent American senators urged President Barack Obama to use his executive authority to reduce or eliminate tax breaks for companies that moved their headquarters overseas to cut their US tax bills.
Shire has agreed to a $55bn (£33.65bn) takeover by US rival AbbVie, which plans to locate the combined company in Britain, where taxes are lower.
Budget carrier easyJet ended the day up 2.23 per cent to 1,283p, after reporting a 7.7 per cent jump in passenger numbers for June.