London share prices plummeted today as global stock markets were routed again amid fears of a financial crunch in China.
Analysts talked of ‘panic mode’ as the FTSE 100 index of leading shares plunged 180.2 points to close at 6,187.65, a fall of 2.8 per cent. The day’s deficit was widened by a negative start on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones industrial average followed up yesterday’s 2 per cent fall with a drop of 289.6 points or 1.7 per cent to 16,701.1.
The Footsie ends this week nearly 6 per cent lower than it finished last Friday, making it the worst week since last December, wiping around £80billion off the value of London’s top 100 listed companies.