Further woe for investors as £9bn is wiped off shares

INVESTORS suffered increased woes yesterday as the London market slid further below the 4,000 mark.

By the close of trading the FTSE 100 was down 37.5 points at 3858, the lowest since September 1996, wiping another £9 billion from shares. The slide adds to yesterday’s 202-point drop and is the second consecutive day the market has closed below 4,000. A mixed opening on Wall Street did little to help sentiment.

Insurers continued to fall. Monday’s profit warning from Aegon and yesterday’s alert from financial services group Fortis weighed on the sector. Aviva closed down 7%, off 25p at 355p. Royal & Sun Alliance slid 11%, or 19p at 166p, and Prudential fell 8%, or 36p to 420p.

Banks also slid, with Abbey National down 33p at 657p, Barclays 17p lower at 433p, Lloyds TSB down 18p at 554p and Standard Chartered 21p lower at 622p.

Telecoms stocks were also hit. BT fell 4%, down 8p to 214p, Vodafone fell 1p to 86p and Cable & Wireless fell 5p at 161p.

However oil stocks managed to stay ahead. Shell rallied 3%, or 10p to 390p, while BP improved p to 428p.

The biggest risers were Morrisons Supermarkets up 6p at 185p, J Sainsbury up 10p at 310p, BAA up 13p at 473p, and mmO2 up 1p at 46p.

Fallers were Royal & Sun Alliance down 19p at 166p, Prudential down 36p at 420p, Aviva down 25p at 355p, and British Airways down 8p at 140p.