A fresh slide in the price of oil piled more pressure on investors today after £36 billion was wiped from blue-chip shares in the previous session.
Brent crude stood at just over 64 US dollars a barrel - a drop of more than 40% on earlier in the year - after a monthly report by industry cartel Opec said demand next year was expected to fall to its lowest level in a decade.
The FTSE 100 Index, which slid 2% on Tuesday, had been in positive territory for much of the session but the oil slump meant the top flight finished 29.4 points lower at 6500 - its lowest level since the start of last month.
