FTSE sinks towards 4,000 as Dow implodes

London's blue-chip index had fallen more than 187 points, almost 4.3%, to slump to 4,049.62. Across the Atlantic, the Dow Jones has slipped more than 350 points to 8,681.97. Standard Chartered and Royal Bank of Scotland, among the institutions included in the Government's £37bn bail-out package, both suffered heavy losses of 13% and 11% respectively. Only British Airways was able to report significant gains, with a 3% rise to 146.3p. Shares slumped on Wall Street in keeping with a global sell-off on Wednesday. Alcoa, Boeing and Hewlett Packard all suffered heavy losses, of 9%, 7% an...