Banks and miners send FTSE plummeting below 4,900

The FTSE 100 has fallen as much as 3.5% as fresh eurozone concerns pushed the index down to the 4,900 mark.

The blue chip index was down 179 points at 4,897 shortly after 1pm BST, with miners Xstrata, Vedanta,GKN and Glencore among the largest fallers, each dropping between 7% and 9%. Shares then recovered some losses as the index rose off its lows to 4,923, but the sole risers remained supermarkets Tesco and Morrisons, the former up 1.76% ahead of interim results tomorrow after UBS upgraded the stock from neutral to buy. In the US, the S&P 500 dropped 1.2% to 1,086 at the open to enter bear market territory, the index having now fallen 20% from its 29 April closing level of 1,364. Finan...