FTSE 100

The FTSE 100 plunged 1.71% or 89.76 points to 5171.23 this morning as shares were hit by the prospect of a hung parliament in the UK and worries over the Greek debt crisis.

The FTSE 100 dived 1.52% or 80.94 points to 5,260.99 with banks dragging on the index after Moody's warned UK lenders are at risk of Greek contagion.

The FTSE was flat in early trading this morning at 5345.24 points as Europe's markets regained some composure after going into temporary freefall over the past two days.

The FTSE was off 0.83% at 5365.96 points this morning despite the largest miners regaining some of the ground they lost yesterday.

The FTSE 100 plunged 1.95% this afternoon as miners continued to weigh on the index following Australian plans to levy a 40% tax. The index fell 108.4 points to 5,444.89.

Miners fell sharply this morning on news the Australian Government plans to introduce a new 40% tax on resource projects from July 2012.

Fund Intelligence investment director Chris Mayo has cut his weighting to Neil Woodford's High Income fund because of concerns over the UK economy.

The FTSE was steady at 5620.88 points this morning, despite rating cuts from brokers and a downbeat assessment on the UK economy by a major think-tank.

The FTSE fell 0.3% today, defying falls more than four times as large on most of Europe's major markets.

The FTSE plunged a further 50 points in early trade Wednesday as the fallout following Standard & Poor's (S&P's) downgrading of Greece's debt to ‘junk' status continues.