Footsie closes at lowest point for nine months
The London market has plunged to new lows. The FTSE 100 Index fell 72.1 points to 4580.3, its lowest point for nine months.
It's been dragged down by gloomy corporate updates and a weak start in the US.
The heaviest faller was Reuters, off 56p at 347½p. It announced it was cutting a further 650 jobs to cut costs amid continuing challenging conditions.
Other media stocks heading south included broadcaster Granada, 6½p lighter at 105p, and Financial Times publisher Pearson, down 29½p at 716½p.
Among the telecoms, Vodafone slid 3½p to 89p. Sentiment across the sector was hurt by Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker.
The group today cut second-half sales forecasts after slower-than-expected growth for both handsets and networks.
MmO2 fell ¾p at 37p while BT slumped 8¼p at 250p and Cable & Wireless eased a penny at 172p.
BT was suffering in the wake of an Oftel ruling which said it must provide a line rental product that will enable competitors to offer a complete telephone service in one single bill.
Among the techs, chip designer ARM lost 6¼p at 139p and computer services firm Logica shed 2½p at 197p.
Both join the FTSE 250 next week, leaving software group Sage as the only tech stock in the top flight. Today it lost 1¾p at 159¼p.
