ANOTHER Black Monday: FTSE plunges 5% after Asian stocks post record falls

The FTSE 100 Index suffered fresh falls today after overnight declines across Asia further battered UK blue chips.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 6.4 per cent to its lowest close in 26 years and the Hang Seng in China was 13 per cent down in dramatic declines amid mounting concerns over the Asian economy.

In London, the FTSE 100 Index plunged nearly 220 points at one stage, but later pulled back a little to stand at 179.83 points down 5 per cent to 3703.53.

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And this saw US futures’ markets nose-diving ahead of Wall Street beginning trading this afternoon.

Elsewhere in Europe, markets also continued to slide with the Cac 40 in France down more than 6 per cent and the Dax in Germany losing 4 per cent.

The drops in Asia earlier this morning were caused by investors hesitant to wade back into equities amid worries that a stream of economic data from the U.S. this week could bring more bad news about the world’s largest economy, triggering another round of selling.

‘Investors aren’t totally convinced the worst is over yet,’ said Alex Tang, head of research at Core Pacific-Yamaichi in Hong Kong of falls in the Sian markets early this morning.

‘We’re probably moving sideways this week and will see more volatility.’

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