Black Monday as biggest FTSE crash since 9/11 wipes off nearly £60bn in shares

London Evening Standard
Monday, January 21, 2008

The stock market was in meltdown today as nearly £60billion was wiped off London shares as fears of a US recession sparked a global sell-off.

The bloodbath saw the Footsie plummet by 5.5 per cent, losing 323.5 points to close at 5578.2 - its biggest one-day points drop since the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

The Footsie has now fallen by around 10 per cent in the last 10 days, by around 15 per cent over the last month and is well on the way to being off 20 per cent since its most recent high of 6754 in July - before the world's banking system was sent spiralling.

It is also the worst start to the year for the stock market since records began in 1936.

"I smell the acrid stench of fear and uncertainty," said markets commentator David Buik of BGC Partners.

Shares across Europe also dived and Asian stock markets suffered heavy overnight losses as fears over the health of the world's biggest economy swept through markets across the globe.

The falls followed Friday's falls for the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wall Street, when investors were left unimpressed by the US Government's tax-relief plans to spur on the economy.

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