FTSE takes heavy hit in early trading

The FTSE 100 Index shed more than 2% today as banks and heavyweight stocks including Vodafone dragged the top tier into the red.

Profit taking after a recent strong run and a raft of stocks going ex-dividend - meaning new investors will not take part in the next dividend payout - combined to send the Footsie plunging 90.7 points to 4386.