Fears that Spain is on the verge of asking for a full-blown bailout from the EU triggered a rout on world markets today.
The FTSE 100 Index fell 117.9 points, or 2.1%, to 5,533.9 amid worries that a raft of Spanish regions were poised to ask for government bailout funds, increasing the likelihood that the country itself will turn to the EU for help.
The fall wiped nearly £30billion from the value of London’s leading shares index, with all 100 companies losing value and banks falling up to 4%.
All financial stocks came under pressure, with Aviva falling nearly 7% or 19.5p to 275.2p and Barclays dropping 4%, or 6.7p to 152.6p.
Resources stocks were also hit – Vedanta Resources fell 45.5p to 835p and Kazakhmys was off 29p at 674.5p.
Shares in property giant Hammerson fell after the owner of Union Square in Aberdeen reported a 1.6% dip in net rental income to £141.6million. Shares were down 3.7p at 457.3p after the firm said the like-for-like comparison was up 2.4% after the group sold 75% of its London office portfolio, raising £518million which it will aim to spend on major retail projects.
Outside the top flight, Domino’s Pizza Group fell 2% despite unveiling a jump in sales and profits after the Euro 2012 football tournament and record rainfall prompted Britons to stay at home.
Shares dropped 12.5p to 506.5p although the group said pre-tax profits rose 15% to £23.3million in the 26 weeks to June 24.
The biggest Footsie fallers included Evraz down 16.3p at 218.1p and Hargreaves Lansdown off 26.5p at 548p.
Barry Shepherd, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, noted that amongst the widespread fallers were Premier Oil, off 1.7% to 383.65p, Aggreko fell 2.6% to £19.06 and Hunting closed 4.3% lower at 734.25p.
Both Goals Soccer Centres and Parkmead meanwhile remained static at 151p and 12.375p respectively.
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