China fears send FTSE 1.5% lower

London's leading index dropped 1.46% to 5,889.62 but has since recovered marginally to sit 1.36% lower. China today posted economic growth of 10.3% for the 12 months, surpassing expectations, despite a final strong quarter based on robust industrial production and retail sales. This growth rate, which has seen China overtake Japan as the world's second biggest economy behind the US, is driving concerns of monetary tightening by China in order to dampen inflation. Nonetheless, inflation in China had actually cooled to 4.6% in December, after a 28-month high the previous month. Gl...