''Worst week for a year'' on FTSE

By MoneyhighStreet Staff. Published on September 5, 2008 This post currently has no comments.

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The FTSE 100 seems set to endure its worst week of the year so far.

A drop of around five per cent across the five days has been registered on the index, with a further 118.1 point, or 2.2 per cent fall marked today.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost around 0.98 per cent today, following a near-three per cent fall yesterday, while the Frankfurt-based DAX 30 has shed 2.82 per cent as the close approaches.

In Britain, negative house price data and increased speculation that the economy risks falling in to recession have caused negative market sentiment.

Particularly damaging has been the publication of comments from chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling last weekend, which suggested that the UK might be facing its toughest financial times for 60 years.

David Buik, an analyst at BGC Partners, told the Daily Telegraph that the index might have further to fall.

"It''s only oil and mining stocks which are keeping things where they are," he commented.