The slide in global shares came as oil approached $100 a barrel – though it fell back sharply – and the dollar set a record low of $1.4856 against the euro and $1.1025 against the Swiss franc.
This prompted GBPUSD to rally strongly from 1.5945 towards the key resistance at 1.6040 (managing to touch a high of 1.6025), and pushed EURGBP back towards 0.9300 support.