Black Monday as biggest FTSE crash since 9/11 wipes off nearly £60bn in shares
Last updated at 17:07pm on 21.01.08
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Traders at the London Stock Exchange have seen the FTSE drop since the beginning of January
The stock market was in meltdown today as nearly £60billion was wiped off London shares.
A combination of poor economic figures and the worsening global credit crunch sent the FTSE 100 plunging.
At one stage the drop was the biggest since 9/11 in 2001, although the index of Britain's biggest companies later clawed back some of the losses. At lunchtime the Footsie was down 250.1 points to 5647.8.
That means the FTSE 100 has now fallen by around 10 per cent in the last 10 days, by around 15 per cent over the last month and is well on the way to being off 20 per cent since its most recent high of 6754 in July - before the world's banking system was sent spiralling.
It is also the worst start to the year for the stock market since records began in 1936. "I smell the acrid stench of fear and uncertainty," said markets commentator David Buik of BGC Partners. European markets also tumbled.
The fall in the Footsie came after figures revealed a record government borrowing deficit for December of £7.8billion.
Howard Archer of forecasters Global Insight said: "The Chancellor's target of cutting public sector borrowing next fiscal year now looks like wishful thinking."
Big fallers included Wolseley, the building supplies company, which reported a 40 per cent drop in profits.
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