FTSE down 100 points as commodities sell off sharply

A commodity sell-off sent the FTSE 100 down almost 2% at 3pm as investors dumped risk assets on European debt concerns.

The blue chip index is down 95.7 points to 5,853, with falls in the price of a basket of commodities weighing on shares. Brent Crude was off 2.6% to $109 a barrel, while copper dived 3.8% to $3.96 and silver also took a hit, down 2.7% to $35. Commodities suffered after the US dollar made gains against a range of currencies following woes in Europe over the weekend. Standard & Poor's move to cut its outlook for Italy to negative from stable on Saturday was the catalyst, with the US dollar rising over 1% against the euro to $0.71 today in reaction. Fitch's decision to downgrade Gr...