London markets tumble after US stocks register worst month since March 2020

London’s FTSE 100 tumbled on the closing day of the week as investors sweated over the global economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis stalling after Wall Street registered its worst month since March 2020.

The capital’s premier index slid 0.94 per cent to 7,019.90 points.

The spectre of rising costs eating into margins, rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve coming down the line and inflation already reaching a high clip weighed heavily on US markets yesterday.

The S&P 500, Wall Street’s blue-chip benchmark, succumbed to a 1.19 per cent drop yesterday, making September the index’s worst month for a year and a half. 

However, US stocks got off to a more positive start during the opening session today.

Yesterday’s negative sentiment bled into London markets today.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: ​​“At times it has felt like UK stocks have been performing a high wire act this week as they continued to make progress despite myriad worries facing investors.”

“On Friday they fell off the wire as the FTSE 100 started October down more than 1 per cent. This followed a weak session on Wall Street overnight and new factory data from Asia which only added to concern that economic growth is slowing.”

The FTSE 100 was dragged down by industrials and retailers plunging into a wall of red. Miners Evraz and Polymetal slid 4.07 per cent and 2.46 per cent respectively.

Bargain retailer B&M bargains dropped 2.54 per cent.

The mid-cap FTSE 250 lost 0.31 per cent to dip to 22,960.67 heading into the final hour of trading this week.

Pub chain JD Wetherspoons’ share price suffered heavy blows this morning after it posted a weak set of results that were plagued by the impact of the pandemic. But the firm fought back, registering a strong 2.98 per cent gain.

London’s losses were extended into the continent. Germany’s Dax 30 fell 0.56 per cent and the pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.37 per cent after the open.