FTSE falls 1.3% on US growth fears

European markets are in retreat this morning on fresh fears for global growth sparked by a gloomy outlook from the US Federal Reserve.

The Fed says is plans to start buying treasuries again in a bit to revive the US economy. Coupled with softer growth figures from China, it has led to a strong sell-off in early trading. London's FTSE 100 has fallen 1.27% to 5308.17, while Paris' CAC 40 is 1.12% lower and Frankfurt's Dax is down 1.23%. BT, which has gone ex-dividend, is down 5.12% to 138.9p - while Eurasian Natural Resources has opened 3.63% lower to 930.5p. Standard Life is 3.28% lower this morning despite posting a 10% jump in pre-tax profit to £182m. Only two constituents of the FTSE 100 are in the black so f...