FTSE plunges into the red

Blue chips lost almost 2% of their value today after fresh concerns over US sub-prime mortgages saw the London market plunge into the red.

After two sessions of gains, the FTSE 100 Index finished 122.7 points lower at 6271.2 when the market’s fragile recovery was derailed by French bank BNP Paribas, which froze more than £1 billion of funds citing problems in the US sub-prime sector.