FTSE plummets as Greece default fears rock investors

The top share index in the UK was left lolling in a 15 month low overnight as the FTSE 100 dropped sharply on Tuesday. By the close of the session, the index had fallen to 4944, a loss of 131 points, or 2.6 per cent.

Chris Bradshaw
shareprices.com - Wednesday, October 05, 2011

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Tesco

The drop is significant as it shows the index breaking through the psychologically important 5000 barrier and hitting a low of 15 months over fears that Greece's position is not sustainable and will result in a default sooner rather than later.

The turmoil in the market led to just two sectors managing to end the day in positive territory, Food and Drug Retailers added 1.17 per cent whilst Alternative Energy climbed by 0.69 per cent.

On an individual level, Tesco was top of the class with a 2.59 per cent gain, just ahead of its interim trend update due on Wednesday. Home Retail Group was also up by 2.61 per cent as investors were buoyed by talk of a possible takeover from either a private equity firm from the US or Walmart.

The Greek debt ongoing crisis inevitably brought a response from banks and with many of them exposed to debts in the country, many fell heavily in the day's trading. Barclays bore the brunt of the days force with a loss of 7.62 per cent, second worst overall and the biggest casualty in the industry. Lloyds Banking Group were not much better off with losses of 4.95 per cent whilst Royal Bank of Scotland was also lower in value.

 

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