The London market suffered another painful session today after a weak start to the day’s trading on Wall Street.
The FTSE 100 Index slid another 40.6 points to 6,299.5 following yesterday’s 60-point drop.
Markets have suffered this week after Japanese policymakers failed to deliver new stimulus measures and amid ongoing worries that the US would taper its money-boosting drive.
Severn Trent was the biggest blue-chip faller after a Canadian-led consortium walked away from its £5.3billion pursuit of the water giant.
The utility firm slumped 9% or £1.72 to £17.65 after confirmation that Borealis had abandoned its takeover interest following failure to engage the board of Severn in talks.
Mobile phone giant Vodafone was also sharply lower after it confirmed a bid approach for Germany’s biggest cable company Kabel Deutschland. Shares fell 6% or 11p to £1.81 as investors worried the move signalled the start of Vodafone’s pursuit of other fixed-line assets across Europe.
Elsewhere, online fashion firm ASOS lifted 51p to £40.32 after another impressive quarter saw it deliver its best UK sales growth for four years, up 39%, while international retail revenues surged 48%.
The biggest FTSE 100 risers were G4S up 6.7p to £2.42, Tate & Lyle ahead 21.5p to £8.21, Smith & Nephew up 16p to 753.5p and Capita 17.5p higher at 955.5p.
Among the biggest FTSE 100 fallers were Vedanta Resources off 40p at £11.49 and Evraz down 3.6p at 113.7p.
Steven McKay, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, noted that Aberdeen Asset Management added 1.7% to 402.5p and Stagecoach finished the day 1.4% higher at 296.65p.
On the fallers board, Hunting fell 2.4% to 781.75p, Petrofac slipped 2.0% to £12.61 and Cairn Energy lost 1.8% to close at 256.9p.
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