Economics / Markets

London's markets saw a major sell-off in late trading as investors digested a wealth of bad news in the retail sector.

London's markets were dragged down by falling mining shares, which failed to lift as the day wore on. Shortly before 4pm, the FTSE100 had dropped 186.83 points, or 2.54% to 4,101.72.

The FTSE 100 had climbed more than 48 points (1.18%) shortly before close on Tuesday in response to an early rally on Wall Street.

The FTSE100 is sharply higher this morning after an extraordinary late surge on Wall Street drove the Dow Jones IA 6.67% ahead on Thursday.

The FTSE has climbed 9.76 points (0.23%) to 4191.78, despite disappointing losses in US and Asia overnight.

The FTSE is currently down 32.50 points (0.77%) to 4214.19 after the Bank of England's gloomy forecast .

The FTSE was approaching a 2.5% drop in early trading on Tuesday after poor UK house sales data hit confidence and Morgan Stanley lowered its growth estimates for the Euro area.

Shares on London's leading stock exchange rose on Friday as the Bank of England's 1.5% base rate cut filtered through, but US stocks tumbled and Asian markets saw mixed results.

A brief market rally on the UK interest rate cut failed to materialise into a substantial recovery this afternoon, with the FTSE100 diving sharply once again on Wall Street's opening decline.

The Bank of England has dramatically cut interest rates by 1.5pc to 3pc in a bid to ease the economic slowdown.