More than £40bn wiped off Ftse as it plunges below 6,000 mark

Chancellor George Osborne’s efforts to calm the markets over Brexit proved fruitless as more than £40bn (€48bn) was wiped off the value of Britain’s biggest companies.

The Ftse 100 plunged back below the 6,000 mark, falling 156.5 points to 5,982.2, despite Mr Osborne offering his assurances that the UK is “about as strong as it could be to confront the challenge our country now faces”.

On the currency markets, sterling plunged to a fresh 31-year low of $1.3151 , before rallying back to a 3.4% fall to $1.321.