FTSE staring into abyss after 8.5% plunge

At shortly after 4pm and just minutes after Alistair Darling had pledged to reform the FSA and Bank of England, the blue-chip index had fallen more than 415 points to 4,565. In New York, the Dow Jones has fallen almost 450 points, or 4.36%, to drop below 10,000 in early trading. At 16.05 BST, the index stood at 9,875.53. In London, Kazakhmys fell 172p, or 30%, to 397p, while Eurasian and Xstrata were also nursing near-30% falls. On a day of no winners, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group had also suffered significant losses, falling more than 40p, or nearly 22%, to 145.4p. IFAonline