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FTSE tumbles as jitters take hold FTSE tumbles as jitters take hold
(about 5 hours later)
(13:30): Hopes for a rebound on the FTSE 100 after Wednesday's shares rout have faded, after an initial rally petered out. (Close): It was another turbulent day for London's main market, with the FTSE 100 initially sliding sharply before recovering much of its lost ground
After opening higher by 1%, gains went into reverse, with the index now trading down by 1.3%, or 82 points, at 6,101.11. The index had shed nearly 140 points, adding to Wednesday's 181 point slide, but ended just 15.7 lower at 6195.9.
In France, the CAC-40 dropped by 2% while Germany's Dax fell by 1.6%. Investor jitters were again caused by a mixture of poor economic and corporate news, and worries about the lasting impact of the Ebola virus.
London's blue chip index saw its heaviest one-day fall in 16 months on Wednesday, dropping by 2.8%. Drugs firm Shire was again the biggest faller in the top flight, down 7%.
That marked its lowest point since July last year and wiped £46bn off shares. The company's shares had already lost 22% on Wednesday after US firm AbbVie announced it was pulling out of a takeover deal.
The biggest loser for the second day in a row was drugs firm Shire, which lost 22% on Wednesday on the potential collapse of a £32bn takeover by US rival AbbVie. It was down by a further 9% on Thursday after the company confirmed it was no longer interested. Banks were also big losers, led by Barclays, down 2%. Tesco was also down 2% after it emerged that billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway firm had reduced its stake in the troubled retailer to under 3%.
The market's muted performance followed another torrid session on Wall Street and gloom on Asian markets overnight, amid continuing worries over the global economy. The FTSE 100's biggest riser was IAG, which owns British Airways. The shares finished 4.5% higher on suggestions that the impact of Ebola on the travel industry may be overdone, and also that the falling oil price will cut the airline's fuel bill.
US retail sales for September fell 0.3% on the previous month and other key data on manufacturing cemented a gloomy picture, prompting steep falls on Wall Street. Laith Khalaf, from the stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown, said the turbulence was likely to continue. "Markets are in fretful mode, heightened by the spectres of 2008 and 2011, which still haunt investors," he said.
"'The market free fall has continued today, and the FTSE 100 has now suffered a technical correction, falling over 10% since the beginning of September," said Laith Khalaf from the stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown.
"Markets are in fretful mode, heightened by the spectres of 2008 and 2011, which still haunt investors," he said.