FTSE down more than 1%

The FTSE 100 Index tumbled more than 1% today amid heavy falls for mining companies and medical devices maker Smith & Nephew.

Renewed fears about the possibility of another interest rate rise in the United States added to the negative sentiment and left the Footsie 71 points lower at 6033.3 by mid-morning.

Pharmaceuticals stocks and mobile phone group Vodafone survived the sell-off with the former making headway in the wake of a profits upgrade from AstraZeneca - up 26p 3017p. Vodafone was up 1.25p to 129p after it confirmed a £6bn (€8.6bn) return of cash to shareholders following the sale of its Japanese business.

But attention was on mining stocks after Goldman Sachs reviewed its ratings in the sector, including a downgrade for BHP Billiton – off 60p at 1112p.

Others giving back recent gains included Kazakhmys with a fall of 66.5p to 1139p and Anglo American off 132p at 2285p.

Those losses were exceeded by Smith & Nephew as it shocked the market with a warning that tough trading conditions – caused in part by NHS budget constraints - had left first-quarter profits below hopes. Shares dived 11%, or 56.5p to 455p.

The market’s sharp sell-off also caught out financial stocks, even though insurer Aviva had earlier impressed investors with better-than-expected sales figures from its long-term savings business.

Shares in Aviva were down by almost 2%, off 2.5p to 139.75p – giving back the gains seen after life and pensions sales of £6.79bn (€9.7bn) in the first three months of the year easily beat City forecasts.

Friends Provident – up 0.75p at 200.5p – was the only stock in positive territory as its shares benefited from optimism ahead of its own first-quarter new business figures tomorrow.

Outside the top flight, companies in the home credit loans market were under pressure after the Competition Commission said customers in the sector were being overcharged for products by up to £100m (€143m) a year. Provident Financial fell 14p to 635p while Cattles was off 3.25p at 376.25p.