The UK FTSE 100 has just hit a new six-month low, as its early gains fizzle out.
The blue-chip index of leading sharews in London is now down 27 points at 6968.
That’s its lowest level since the end of March, adding to last week’s losses.
This follows the weak trading in Asia (where Japan lost 1.8% and China fell 1.4%).
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell explains:
“There is a noticeable lack of bargain hunters on Monday morning as last Friday’s rebound in select parts of the market fails to extend into the new working week.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.1% in early trading at 6,988 with investors clearly lacking confidence to snap up stocks whose share prices were badly damaged in last week’s market sell-off.
The biggest riser is gold producer Randgold – a traditional ‘safe-haven’ in troubled times, with other ‘defensive’ stocks such as British American Tobacco and BT Group also in demand.
Engineering firms such as Melrose and BAE are among the big fallers.