AP: FTSE plummets 8.9% at end of worst week since 1987 Black Monday crash
FTSE: 3,932.06 (-381.74) Mid-250: 6,763.72 (-415.71) Small Cap: 2,086.84 (-117.25)
STOCK MARKETS worldwide were gripped by fear yesterday as London's FTSE 100 Index endured its worst week since the Black Monday crash of 1987.
Recession panic and concerns over fragile banks sent investors stampeding for the exits as the Footsie tumbled 8.9 per cent - surpassing even Monday's record sell-off.
The Footsie has plummeted 21 per cent over the week - wiping more than £250 billion off the value of top-flight stocks in the process. The index eventually finished below the 4,000 mark at 3932.1 - its lowest close for more than five years.
The 21 per cent fall comes close to the 22 per cent slide seen by London's leading shares in the aftermath of Black Monday.
Following heavy overnight declines in Asia, screens turned red in the City as the London market approached falls of 10 per cent at one stage. A dire start to US trading offered no respite.
In London, banking stocks were among the biggest victims of the turmoil as speculation mounted over the billions they may need to strengthen their finances.
Royal Bank of Scotland lost 25 per cent, is down a mammoth 61 per cent this week, and Halifax Bank of Scotland fell 19 per cent, 37 per cent over the week. Barclays tumbled 14 per cent, making a 42 per cent slump in the past seven days.
The sell-off sent the value of safe havens such as gold up by as much as 4 per cent as investors took their money out of volatile stock markets.
Alongside the crisis-hit banking sector, heavyweight mining stocks plunged amid falling base metal prices and growing panic over a potential global recession.
Mining firm Vedanta Resources led a retreat for the sector - down 13 per cent - as investors worried over falling demand for metals and minerals. The same factor was hitting crude oil, which was trading below $80 a barrel for the first time in a year.
In New York, crude for November delivery reached a low of $78.61 - little more than half the $147 a barrel it peaked at less than three months ago. Brent crude was as low as $75.08 a barrel in London. The falling crude prices weighed on petrochemical heavyweights BP and Royal Dutch Shell, which fell 8 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.
Only one Footsie stock finished in positive territory - media group Thomson Reuters. - (PA)
