Footsie slides below 4000

The City was bracing itself for another grim session today as blue-chip shares tumbled in early trading.

By 8.30am, the FTSE 100 Index of leading stocks had slid below the 4000 mark as it lost 109.7 points at 3988.6.

Traders had been expecting the worst after mixed trading in Asia overnight and dismal performances on both sides of the Atlantic on Friday.

Then the Dow Jones Industrial Average sunk 390 points while the FTSE 100 dived 199 points.

News today that disgraced telecom group WorldCom has filed for bankruptcy protection the largest bankruptcy in US history and the latest in a spectacular series of corporate collapses further rocked sentiment.

Tom Hougaard, at financial bookies City Index, said: ‘‘Investors are fleeing to the sidelines and are happy just holding cash at this point.

‘‘It is not necessarily a question of huge quantities of sellers, but merely the lack of buying. I suspect the buyers will be sidelined this morning waiting for the US to open.’’