Footsie plummets in worst day since 2016
AROUND £60bn was wiped off the FTSE 100 as it clocked up its worst day since January 2016.
A toxic cocktail of Brexit fears, poor economic data and worries about a global recession sent stocks tumbling worldwide.
The Footsie closed 3.2pc lower after Prime Minister Boris Johnson told MPs at the Conservative Party conference that if Brussels does not accept his version of a Brexit deal, the alternative will be a No Deal exit from the EU.
UK and Europe stocks had already been trading lower after a gauge of US manufacturing showed its worst reading in more than ten years, as exports dived amid the China trade conflict.
This stoked concerns that a global recession is on the way.
The benchmark Stoxx 600 European index, which includes stocks from 17 countries, fell 2.7pc, while in the US the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P were all nearly 2pc lower.
By the close the Footsie had shed 237.78 points, to finish at 7122.54. Shares rose in just two blue- chip companies yesterday.
Flutter Entertainment (up 6.9pc, or 530p, to 8164p) was higher after revealing it will merge with Poker Stars-owner The Stars Group and
Tesco (up 0.2pc, or 0.5p, to 240p) on the back of better- thanexpected results.
Asia-focused stocks were an added weight to the index, slipping lower as unrest escalated in Hong Kong.
Banks Standard Chartered (down 2.1pc, or 14p, to 652.8p) and HSBC (down 2.7pc, or 16.9p, to 603p) closed in the red, while luxury stock Burberry, which has a considerable presence in Hong Kong, fell 4.8pc, or 102p, to 2007p.
The mid- cap FTSE 250 index, which is less exposed to global events and affected more by domestic news, slid 2pc, or 395.91 points, to 19476.91.
Blue-chip car dealer Auto Trader shares stalled after it bought software group KeeResources, which it has previously worked with, for an undisclosed amount.
Auto Trader’s stock fell 3.38pc, or 17.4p, to 498p. Mid-cap precious metals miner
Hochschild Mining slipped 2.21pc, or 4.5p, to 199.1p after it bought a deposit of rare earth minerals in Chile for £46m in cash.
It said the market for the minerals is forecast to ‘grow exponentially’ as they are used in renewable technologies such as electric cars and wind turbines.
China currently dominates world supply and has threatened to slash exports in its ongoing trade war with the US – so getting hold of deposits elsewhere is a priority for many mining groups.
Defence contractor QinetiQ jumped 5.62pc, or 16.4p, to 308p after it agreed to buy American group Manufacturing Technologies for up to £102m in a move that will double the size of its US operations. On AIM, the energy infrastructure firm that has rescued Belfast shipyard Harland & Wolff, InfraStrata, soared as it said it had completed a number of pre-construction milestones that it needed to finish in September.
It is still on schedule for other preparations it needs to complete this year, it added, sending shares 9.8pc higher, up 0.05p, to 0.56p. Pharmaceuticals group Motif
Bio was on the up after it conditionally raised £600,000 to enable a restructuring, announced earlier this week, that would see it sell off its main asset, an antibiotic called iclaprim.
Motif Bio shares rose 14pc, or 0.08p, to 0.68p. Premier African Minerals surged 20.97pc, or 0.01p, to 0.04p, despite using a stock market update to quash media reports in Zimbabwe that it has been given a key permit for its Zulu lithium and tantalum project.
The firm will update the market when the government puts its approval in writing, it said.