Pound slides on Bank of England report

(Close): The pound fell against other currencies as the latest Bank of England inflation report indicated it was unlikely to raise rates soon.

The Bank voted 8-1 to keep rates on hold, and said inflation was only expected to pick up slowly, staying below 1% until the second half of 2016.

The report led to speculation that rates might not now rise for a year.

The pound fell more than a cent against the dollar to $1.5243, and was more than a cent lower against the euro.

The pound was trading at €1.4020 against the single currency by 16:30 GMT.

The stock market rose after the release of Bank's report, but then fell in afternoon trading. The FTSE 100 index closed down almost 48 points at 6,364.

Shares in drugs firm AstraZeneca rose almost 3% after the company raised its full-year forecasts for revenue and earnings.

Morrisons shares closed nearly 6% lower following the supermarket's latest trading update, which showed like-for-like sales excluding fuel fell by 2.6% in the third quarter.

In the FTSE 250, Thomas Cook shares fell 7% in reaction to the news that flights between Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt and the UK have been suspended.

Thomas Cook has cancelled its flight and holiday programme to Sharm el-Sheikh until 12 November.

Shares in oil and gas services company Amec Foster Wheeler plunged by 23% after the company warned about its full year results.

Lower spending by customers has led the firm to halve its dividend, and it said profit margins in the second half of the year would be below those in the first.