FTSE slump continues as index spirals towards 6,000

The FTSE 100 has continued to sell off in early trading on Monday following further falls in Asia, as investors continue to dump stocks on fears QE will be withdrawn in the US.

A sell-off sparked a month ago by Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, has taken a number of indices into bear market territory, and this morning it continued to impact the UK and other markets. By 10am, the FTSE 100 was off 0.6% or 40 points at 6,076, having declined steadily since 22 May when Bernanke made his announcement regarding a curtailing of stimulus later this year. Since the May peak of 6,840 points, the index has shed over 11%. European indices were also in the red this morning, with the French CAC 40 and German DAX down 1.1% and 1.2% respectively. Overnigh...