Euro markets slump as Moody's mulls Spain downgrade

The FTSE hit a new intra-day low for 2010 in early trading on Thursday following murmurs ratings agency Moody's may downgrade the triple-A sovereign ratings on Spain.

Shortly after opening, London's leading index fell as low as 4,834 points, down 82 or 1.64%. This is its lowest intraday level since 4 September 2009. Banks and insurers were among the biggest fallers, with Barclays off 3.5% at 260p and Aviva and Prudential both losing more than 3%. At 9am there were no risers. Elsewhere in Europe, the German Dax was down 1.2% to 5,894 while the French Cac had fallen almost 2% to 3,374. Markets were spooked after Moody's last night announced it has put Spain's AAA sovereign rating on review for "possible downgrade". It said the country's econo...