Oil price falls spread gloom in London

London’s top flight shares index dropped deeper into the red as it digested further falls in the oil price and the possible departure of BT’s finance director.

The telecoms giant has stepped up the search for a new group finance director after revealing Tony Chanmugam — who first took up his post in 2008 — “may step down later this year”.

The Ftse 100 fell 2.7% or 158.7 points to 5,689.3, meaning the index has now fallen 9% since the start of the year.