FTSE drops under 5,000 mark

The UK benchmark shed 5.60 points to 4999.40 points, while 3i, the publicly traded buyout firm shed 13p to 691p, following a stock downgrade from analysts. Barclays also shed 9p to 520p at its close. News reports have it looking for further acquisitions following its purchase of South Africa's Absa Group. At the other end of the table, search engine Yell Group has picked up 8.75p to 425p, while food services firm Compass picked up 4.25p to 224p. In the US the Dow Jones has fallen sharply, down 81.21 points to 10472.28 points in its morning session, led by Coca-Cola. The worlds leadi...