FTSE heads south amid M&A failures and Russian tensions

UK and European equity markets have pulled back again this morning after two mega M&A deals fell through and geopolitical tensions increased.

With investors reacting to a 1% fall for the S&P 500 overnight, sentiment was also hit by bad news on the mergers and acquisitions front. Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox pulled its $71bn offer for TimeWarner, while US telecom Sprint walked away from a deal to buy T-Mobile US due to regulatory issues. On the macro front, meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured) is reportedly considering  "retaliation measures" over US and EU sanctions. The worries left the FTSE 100 down 1% at 6,612 by mid-morning. The Eurostoxx was down 1.3% at 3,029 and the German DAX was down 1.4% ...