* FTSE 100 down 1.1 pct at close; mid caps down 1.3
* Dollar drop helps sterling after Trump fires Tillerson
* Greencore plunges after co cuts guidance(Recasts, adds quote and detail, updates prices at close)
By Danilo Masoni and Kit Rees
The FTSE ended down 1.1 percent at 7,138.78 points,while the mid cap index fell 1.3 percent.
Trump replaced Tillerson with loyalist CIA Director MikePompeo which, together with
That boosted sterling to a two-week high, hitting the FTSE'sinternational earners, in particular big consumer staples.
"Rex Tillerson being replaced by the director of the CIA,that's come as a shock to the market and it's sent cable higherwhich has suppressed the FTSE 100 throughout the day," JasperReimers, senior analyst at Vertex Capital Group, said.
"Rex Tillerson was the mediator in a lot of foreign policyissues, so with him now out of the picture, it looks as thoughTrump's agenda might be far easier to drive in."
A half-yearly update on
Mid cap Greencore's shares plunged after the foodmanufacturer cut its 2018 profit guidance due to issues at itsUS business.
Investec placed its forecasts and price target under review,noting that even though commercial developments gave the groupconfidence that the financial performance will improve throughinto 2019, this was later than management had expected.
Greencore was down more than 30 percent, the biggestfaller among mid caps and the stock's biggest one-day loss ever.
Still among mid caps, TC ICAP fell 10.5 percentafter annual profits at the world's largest interdealer brokerfell short of analyst expectations.
"We believe various additional costs associated with MiFIDII and ongoing investment account for the shortfall," Liberumsaid in a note.
On the FTSE,
The Chilean miner reported a sharp rise in full-yearearnings thanks to higher copper prices and said it would raiseits dividend 177 percent.
Tonic water maker Fevertree Drinks fell 3.6 percentafter hitting a record high in the previous session as a 64percent jump in full-year core earnings failed to exciteinvestors.
(Reporting by Danilo Masoni and Kit Rees; editing by JohnStonestreet)