FTSE 100 drops in response to New York

The FTSE 100 fell below 5,100 in early trading on Thursday morning.

At 08:46 BST, the index was down 0.74 per cent – or 37.78 points – to 5,101.59, picking up from initial drops.

London was responding to drops seen last night in New York.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw an afternoon peak over 9,900 to almost the highest in a year – before plummeting to close down 0.83 per cent to 9,748.55.

This came despite positive noise coming from the Federal Reserve on the state of the US economy picking up, although interest rates are expected to be held low for an extended time.

In London, the drops were led by British Airways down 3.39 per cent as Citigroup downgraded its shares.

Schroders non-Voting was down 3.28 per cent, Schroders fell 3.15 per cent and Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 3.24 per cent.

Outside the FTSE 100, Yell Group was down 10.80 per cent as investors failed to warm to a proposed £500 million cash call as the firm looks to deal with its £3.8 billion debts.

Autonomy led gains up 1.73 per cent, followed by British Sky Broadcasting up 1.53 per cent.

Burberry gained 0.80 per cent.