FTSE 100 slumps under 6,000 despite petrol price fall

The FTSE 100 has slumped to under 6,000 during trading on Friday as miners and some financials suffered big falls.

FTSE 100 slumps under 6,000 despite petrol price fall

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As of late afternoon, with around an hour of trading left, the FTSE 100 was at 5,965, some 2% down from the 6,088 level it started the day at.

Miners such an Anglo American, which fell 8%, have been hit by both the ongoing slump in global demand and the recent political strife in South Africa, where the business-friendly finance minister Nhlanhla Nene has been sacked by President Jacob Zuma.

Financials with South African links such as Old Mutual, which fell 11%, also plummeted as worries about the falling value of the South African Rand and credit rating downgrades hit investor sentiment hard.   

Meanwhile there was a bright spot in the form of petrol in the UK finally dropping under £1 a litre at some outlets. The price of a litre had until now remained stubbornly several pence above a pound despite the large and prolonged dip in crude oil prices.

The symbolically important drop to an amount recorded in pennies rather than pounds should provide a welcome boost to UK consumers over the festive period, assuming no quick rebound is forthcoming.

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