UK pharmas drag down FTSE after US tax crackdown

Shares in UK-listed pharmaceutical giants Shire and AstraZeneca have fallen sharply this morning, after the US Treasury introduced a new law to curb tax avoidance by US companies which buy overseas rivals.

The two pharma stocks are the biggest fallers in the FTSE 100 index this morning, both down more than 5%. There losses helped drag the wider index down 1.1% to 6,696 points. Shares fell after the US government announced overnight that it intends to crackdown on so-called "inversion" deals which see US companies buy foreign firms in order to cut down their tax bills. Though widely expected by the market after months of political debate, the crackdown announced was far stricter than anticipated and could make any takeover deals much less profitable for US firms. Both Shire and Astra ...