FTSE tumbles on A&L

Lower oil prices knocked oil heavyweights and analysts forecast a gloomy outlook for the direction of stocks like Vodafone and Alliance & Leicester. Alliance & Leicester slid 4.98% lower to 1,069p as investors took profits on a stock that had gained almost 40% in the four months to the publication of its annual results on Monday. Those figures showed a slim rise in profits. Mobile phone giant Vodafone fell 4.2% to 109p, taking more than 11 points off the index, after analysts cut estimates and target prices on the stock following the company's forecasts on Monday of slowing revenue grow...