FTSE plunges as miners hit rock bottom

More than £29 billion was knocked off the value of the FTSE 100 as fears over Turkey’s lira crisis and slowing growth in China spooked investors.

London’s blue chip index plunged nearly 1.5 per cent, ending the day at 7497.87 points, its lowest point since May this year.

“It’s a broad-based sell-off across Europe as dealers are worried about the currency crisis in Turkey, and the cooling of Chinese growth,” said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

“Copper, platinum and palladium are weaker as traders are concerned the Chinese economy is cooling, and yesterday’s disappointing fixed asset investment and industrial production reports from Beijing confirmed their fears.”

Sterling was trading at its lowest level in nearly 14 months against the US dollar at $1.269.

In UK stocks, RBS fell 1.1 per cent to 239.6p, after the bank came last for overall quality of service in new league tables published by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA).

GSK rose 2 per cent to 1,590.4p on news that its majority-owned HIV specialist company Viiv Healthcare secured positive results in a phase 3 study for a two-drug regimen treatment.

Balfour Beatty was up 0.8 per cent to 292.7p as first-half profits quadrupled to £50 million, thanks to cost-cutting and divestment gains worth £22 million.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 included WPP, up 1.8 per cent at 1,245p, and Direct Line Insurance, up 1.6 per cent at 334.2p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 included Fresnillo, down 7.8 per cent at 897p, and Antofagasta down 5,7 per cent at 836.2p.