LONDON: European stocks shot higher and the pound plunged after the Bank of England cut interest rates and announced an additional £170 billion of stimulus to counter Brexit fallout. As widely expected, the Boe cut interest rates to a record low 0.25 percent, cutting borrowing costs for the first time in more than seven years in order to combat what it described as a weaker economic outlook after British voters chose to leave the European Union in a June referendum. However, BoE policymakers also voted unanimously for an emergency package worth up to £170 billion including £60 billion for more quantitative easing (QE), it said in a statement. London's FTSE 100 index, which had been wobbling beforehand, stormed higher and was trading up 1.2 percent about 15 minutes after the BoE decision. Meanwhile the pound fell from around $1.33 to $1.3183, while rates of return on British government bonds sagged. In the eurozone, Frankfurt stocks won 0.9 percent and Paris gained 0.6 percent in value. The rate cut was first since March 2009, when the bank slashed rates to the current historic low of 0.50 percent at the height of the financial crisis -- and launched its QE policy of buying government bonds to push investors to re-invest funds in the economy. Elsewhere, Asian stocks rose following a positive lead from Wall Street, as investors look ahead to both the BoE and US jobs data. A better-than-expected reading on US private jobs supported a Wall Street rally, with payroll firm ADP reporting that private US companies added 179,000 jobs in July, slightly better than expected. The US is due to announce official job creation data for July on Friday, with markets looking for signs that could increase the likelihood of a hike in US interest rates. Shanghai ended up 0.1 percent as investors await the release of economic data next week, including on trade, investment and retail sales.

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