FTSE drops to lowest level in two years
THE FTSE 100 Index crashed to its lowest level since 2016 as inflation fears rocked global markets.
It fell by more than 230 points to 7,104.94 at one stage soon after opening yesterday morning, before trimming losses to 130.36 at 7204.62.
Falls were also widespread across European markets, with the Dax in Germany down 2.6 per cent and France’s Cac 40 off 3pc. Monday saw the biggest drop in the US’s Dow Jones in six and a half years.
The Dow plunged 1,175 points - its worst point drop of all time and its worst percentage decline since August 2011.
Falls in Europe followed a brutal overnight sell-off in Asia and on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 dropped 4.6pc and 4.1pc respectively.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 Day closed down 4.7pc, while the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index plunged 5pc lower.
The global equity sell-off has been building since last Friday when traders became spooked by the prospect of tighter monetary policy after the US posted strong average earnings data.
The crash follows deep losses during Monday’s session when more than £27bn was wiped off the value of London’s blue-chip stocks.
In US trading, banks fared the worst as bond yields and interest rates nose dived.
Health care, technology and industrial companies took outsize losses and energy companies sank with oil prices.