Blue chip shares tumble on gloomy start to Wall Street

BLUE-CHIP shares tumbled yesterday as a gloomy start on Wall Street provided the City with little festive cheer.

By London’s close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was nearly 100 points adrift while the Nasdaq had also fallen sharply. Confidence was hit across the US markets as investors reacted to a run of bad corporate updates, including first-ever losses from fast food giant McDonald’s.

US-owned insurance and financial services firm Conseco’s decision to file for bankruptcy protection last night also cast a cloud over Wall Street.