Little Christmas cheer as blue chips take a tumble

FEARS of a subdued Christmas on the high street dampened spirits in the City yesterday as the FTSE 100 Index came back to earth with a bump.

Just a day after an encouraging 106 point rally, the Footsie tumbled 75.3 points to 3908.7 as a number of blue-chip retailers lost ground.

A subdued start to trading on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped early on, did little to improve the mood.