Pound slides to lowest level since 1985
FTSE 100 just misses all-time closing high
Ericsson to cut 3,000 jobs in Sweden
Google expected to launch new phones
Greggs helped by healthier options
The FTSE 100 has closed near to its record high of 7,103.98. The share index closed at 7,074.34, up 1.30%.
Sterling fell to its lowest in more than three decades after fears of a "hard" Brexit where the UK leaves the single market in favour of imposing controls on immigration.
With a cheaper currency promising to bolster earnings, the FTSE 100 index rose.
Barclays has completed the sale of its Egyptian business to Morocco's Attijariwafa Bank as part of its shift towards focusing on the US and Britain.
The UK bank is seeking to sell its African operations as part of a plan by chief executive Jes Staley to simplify its structure and improve shareholder returns.
Image source, Getty ImagesGoogle is expected launch new products later, including a smartphone.
The FT is reporting, external that the firm is looking to spend $50m ($40m) marketing its Pixel phone in the UK to challenge market leaders Apple and Samsung.
EE is thought to have won the Google contract to sell the phone, which will also be sold by Carphone Warehouse, the FT reports.
Google is also expected to launch a virtual reality headset.
The BBC's Yogita Limaye went to Chennai - the Detroit of Asia - to hear one woman's story about how the expansion of car making is lifting people out of poverty.
Image source, Getty ImagesGold is down more than 1% at around $1,288 an ounce, its lowest since Britain's vote to leave the European Union.
Forecast-beating US manufacturing data on Monday fed into expectations that the Federal Reserve will lift interest rates by the end of the year, driving the dollar higher.
Following Home Secretary Amber Rudd saying she is considering tighter controls on foreign workers and overseas students, the CBI has said it is "time to be clear about the value of migration to the UK".
"Businesses will not welcome further restrictions on high skilled migration from key trading partners around the world, especially as a series of changes were only announced earlier this year.
"At a time when we need strong links globally to seize new opportunities after the referendum, being seen as open to the best and brightest is vital.
"And we should be clear that business does not see immigration and training as an either/or choice. We need both," the business lobby group said.
Simon Jack
BBC Business Editor
Image source, Getty ImagesThe explanation for the surge is pretty straightforward.
Big companies... make most of their money in dollars but report their profits in pounds.
As the pound falls to its lowest level against the dollar for 31 years, those dollar profits are worth more in pound terms.
A goldilocks scenario for big multinationals headquartered and listed in the UK: FTSE 100 rockets.
Simple.
But that is not the whole story. If you look further down the business league table, you will find that shares in midsize and smaller firms are also surging.
Fewer of them have foreign earnings so what's going on?
Image source, Getty ImagesUS stocks have opened slightly higher as technology stocks rose and investors assessed the chances of an interest rate hike in the coming months.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 39.44 points, or 0.22%, at 18,293.29, the S&P 500 was up 3.5 points, or 0.16%, at 2,164.7 and the Nasdaq composite was up 16.98 points, or 0.32%, at 5,317.85.
Andrew Walker
World Service economics correspondent
The indifferent economic recovery after the global financial crisis has been a persistent theme in the IMF's regular World Economic Outlook reports.
The report warns of the danger of a pattern of underperformance becoming entrenched.
Weak growth can lead to lower investment, slower productivity growth and the erosion of what the IMF calls "human capital" - which means skills and expertise.
In one important area, the IMF's concerns have eased somewhat for the near term outlook. That is China, where growth has been stable.
There have been concerns that China's widely reported slowdown in growth would be much more abrupt than it has been. But there is a warning about the country's longer term prospects and the debt burden faced by many businesses.
"A still-rising credit-to-GDP ratio and lack of decisive progress in addressing corporate debt and governance concerns in state-owned enterprises raise the risk of a disruptive adjustment".
Image source, Getty ImagesThe UK government is trying to minimise any risk from Brexit to the City, and a successful deal should benefit the sector, Brexit minister David Davis has said.
Banks are keen to retain "passporting" rights which allow them to sell financial services across the EU from London.
"We will set about making sure that the things that people are worrying about like passporting are resolved, there's no question there," Mr Davis said, speaking at an event at the Conservative Party annual conference.
Mr Davis also said a good deal for Britain to leave the European Union should help car makers, saying firms such as Japan's Nissan - which has voiced fears over higher tariffs - should not worry.
"We want the car manufacturing industry to be doing better, we want the finance sector to be doing better, with no constraints on them," he said.
Andrew Neil
Presenter, The Daily Politics
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Andrew Walker
World Service economics correspondent
The global economic recovery remains "weak and precarious", the International Monetary Fund has warned
In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF predicts growth this year of 3.1%, picking up to 3.4% in 2017.
It warns there is a risk this "tepid growth" could become "self-perpetuating".
It goes on to say that the UK's exit from the European Union is "expected to have negative macroeconomic consequences".
Image source, AFPThe world's advanced economies will grow more slowly this year than previously forecast, according to the International Monetary Fund.
The IMF now thinks they'll grow at 1.6%, down from the 1.8% it previously estimated, but that slightly faster growth in the rest of the world will make up the shortfall.
“Taken as a whole, the world economy has moved sideways,” said IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld.
The US was one of the main economies to have its growth for the year downgraded, while the UK and eurozone were slightly upgraded.
The boffins that produce official UK statistics are going to be making greater use of VAT data.
Today the Office for National Statistics, external (ONS) published the first set of VAT turnover data. The ONS says it's an important new data source and will deliver "greatly improved" detail about the UK economy.
The ONS reckons it will get more detail on industries, geographic breakdowns and more information about small businesses.
Can French bosses change their image by riding mopeds and wearing blue capes?
Sticking with France for a minute, the BBC has this report on a group of French businessmen trying to change the image of the "boss class".
They meet up monthly, don pink helmets and blue capes, and ride mopeds - all to provide some light relief and improve France's poor industrial relations.
John Laurenson speaks to some of them at the 'Meules Bleues' - or Blue Mopeds - Grand Prix.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe first TGV train was made in Alstom's factory in Belfort, eastern France. But last month Alstom told employees that the plant would close, with the loss of 400 jobs.
However, it appears that the plant has received a reprieve, with a government order for 15 high-speed trains, 30 regular trains and 20 rescue locomotives.
Alstom and the government will invest €70m euros to modernise the plant.
The French government owns a 20% stake in Alstom.
Financial Times journalist Katie Martin has another reason why the pound is at a record low.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
The pound is currently lower against the dollar than it was on Black Wednesday in 1992 and the bursting of the dotcom bubble in 2001-2.
You have to go back to 1985 when £1 bought fewer dollars. Then, it was less a story of pound weakness and more to do with a very strong dollar.
Image source, Getty ImagesMotor racing is an expensive business, but it helps if you are winning.
Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix cut its losses to £22.3m in 2015, from a loss of £76.9m in the previous year.
More sponsorship and more money from the organisers of Formula One helped boost sales.
Last year Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won his third world championship, with fellow Mercedes driver, Nico Rosberg finishing runner-up.
A bad day for the pound is leading to a good day for the FTSE. In morning trading sterling hit its lowest level against the dollar since 1985 and it hasn't recovered much since then.
"Sterling/Dollar stumbled to fresh 31 year lows at 1.2736 during trading on Tuesday as the horrible combination of Brexit anxieties and a resurgent Dollar encouraged bears to install repeated rounds of selling," said Lukman Otunuga from currency traders FXTM.
The pound dropped to $1.05 in 1985 so it's got a way to go before it beats that record.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.