FTSE falters as S&P 500 drops to Sept. 11 figures

UK stocks slumped and confidence faltered again today on the UK stockmarkets, as insurance stocks Aviva and Prudential led the declines. Stocks left the FTSE 100 Index down 3% to 4546.8, as the biggest named stocks - Vodafone, GlaxoSmithKline and BP - accounted for 31% of the slide. Prudential dropped 46p or 7.7% to 555p, after an analyst at Morgan Stanley downgraded the no.2 insurer. Aviva, which today changed its name from CGNU, also shed 34.5p or 6.6% to 486.5p. And Pace Micro Technology slumped after declaring full-year pretax profit had fallen because British Sky Broadca...