FTSE 100 down on opening

The FTSE 100 was down this morning after drops overnight in Asia and New York.

At 8:54 GMT the London index of top shares was down 1.54 per cent – or 67.85 points – to 4,336.07, continuing the decline recorded at the end of Monday.

Last night in New York the Dow was down 0.82 per cent, while in Asia the Hang Seng dropped 4.77 per cent and the Nikkei fell 3.00 per cent.

In Europe this morning the Dax was down 1.93 per cent and the Cac 40 fell 1.91 per cent.

Back in London, the drop came with falls for yesterday’s surging commodity stocks as oil prices dropped.

BG Group was down 5.86 per cent, Kazakhmys fell 4.66 per cent and Tullow Oil dropped 4.62 per cent.

LSE Group slid 6.02 per cent and SABMiller slipped 5.43 per cent.

On the upside, Vodafone rose 6.83 per cent – despite reporting a cut to its sale forecasts but plans to reduce business costs in the slowdown buoyed investors.

Old Mutual rose 3.35 per cent, Inmarsat gained 2.80 per cent and BT Group was up 1.69 per cent.

Tom Hougaard, at City Index, said before markets opened: “Asian trading is a mixed bag with some markets closed, some markets deeply in red and some markets slightly up on the day.

“I suspect that as long as the SP500 can hold above 900, we will still have a chance of riding out the storm and bet that the lows made in late October will hold. Otherwise, look out below.”