Shares on the London stock market went into freefall this morning, fuelled by fears of a global meltdown sparked by the Russian crisis.
The FTSE 100 index slumped 231.6 to 5135.6 in the opening minutes as trading screens turned red, wiping £46bn of share prices.
The downturn in London followed overnight falls on the international markets.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones index of key stocks plunged 357 points, or 4%, its third-highest ever drop, sparked by worries about the turmoil in Russia and concerns about economic unrest in Latin America.
Japanese shares also got a battering, falling to a 12-year low as the benchmark Nikkei index fell 498 points, or more than 3%.
Among the big UK fallers were British Telecom which plummeted 36p to 790p, Zeneca down 64p to £23.16 and Rolls Royce down 7p to £195.25.
Supermarket group Somerfield today surprised the City by calling off merger talks with food distribution group Booker – just after 11 days after negotiations started.
But there has been mounting speculation that Somerfield could face a rival bid, with Budgens tipped as a possible partner for Booker.
Despite the crisis swirling around it Somerfields shares lifted 2p
to 367p, Bookers however fell 40{p to 205p
Bucknall Group received a 103p cash bid by Citex Group which valued the quantity surveyors at about £15.4m.
Following the arrival of Newcastle United new boss Ruud Gullit shares in the Premier League club rose 0.5p to 63.5p.
References: PA News 28/8/98
