Footsie drops to lowest level in six months

Perry Gourley

More than £36 billion was wiped off London’s blue-chip index as it ended the day at the lowest level since the end of March.

The FTSE 100 Index closed down more than 1.9 per cent, or 138.8 points, at 7,006.90, the largest one-day drop for the index since 25 June when it fell 2.2 per cent.

Peers in mainland Europe also took a hit, with the French CAC 40 and German Dax falling around 1.9 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively.

The stock market bloodbath follows the biggest drop overnight on Wall Street in eight months, with a decline of more than 830 points on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which in turn sparked hefty losses across Asia.

Connor Campbell, a financial analyst at Spreadex, said: “The European open was a proper, old-fashioned bloodbath, reminiscent of the drastic sell-off seen back in February.”

In London, housebuilders were among those bearing the brunt of the sell-off, with Barratt Developments down 12 per cent, or 67.4p, at 487.8p. It was the worst performer on the FTSE 100.

Retailer WH Smith was a big casualty in the FTSE 250 Index, down 11.5 per cent, or 234p, at 1,800p after it unveiled an overhaul of its underpressure high street business following sliding sales and profits at the division.

One-off costs of the review sent group pre-tax profits down 4 per cent to £134 million for the year to August 31.

But with these costs stripped out, underlying pre-tax profits rose 4 per cent to £145m thanks to another impressive performance from its travel business.