Heavyweight stocks drag Footsie down

The FTSE 100 Index has fallen sharply for the second consecutive session as uncertainty continued to dog the London market.

The Footsie fell 49.6 points to 4652.4.

The blue-chip index has now lost almost all of the gains achieved on Monday in the wake of last Friday's £34bn (€53bn) collapse.

Tech and telecoms were among the heaviest fallers after a spate of weak corporate announcements in the US.

Vodafone was among the stocks to show signs of a recovery, eventually easing ¾p to 92½p after being 3p lower at lunchtime.

Among the telecoms, mmO2 was off ¾p at 37¾p and Cable & Wireless fell 3%, or 6p, to 173p.

Chip designer ARM Holdings was again a heavy faller, losing 8¼p at 145¼p, as it prepares to join the FTSE 250 Index next week.

Two other companies set for relegation also suffered with Logica down 6½p at 199½p and Electrocomponents off 25p at 373½p.

Software group Sage, which will next week become the only tech stock left in the FTSE 100 Index, fell 3¼p at 161p.