THE GUARDIAN: Darling's speech to the House of Commons failed to meet City expectations
The FTSE 100 index suffered its biggest ever one-day points fall today while Wall Street dipped below 10,000 points for the first time in four years, as fears over the stability of the global banking sector sent markets sliding worldwide.
The contagion in the US financial market has had central bankers and politicians across Europe running to reassure savers that their deposits will be protected.
At the close in London, the FTSE 100 was down 391.1 points at 4589.2, its worst ever closing performance in points terms as traders looked for chancellor Alistair Darling to shore up of the UK's banking sector. Shares across the banking sector dropped on fears that any deal would involve the government taking stakes in high street firms.
But the wider market was pushed lower when Darling's speech to the House of Commons failed to meet the expectations in the City that were fuelled by weekend reports of a so-called recapitalisation plan, which would have seen taxpayers' money pumped into high street banks. Financial Crisis: World Markets Plunge as Banking Fears Escalate >>> Andrew Clark in New York, Richard Wray and Graeme Wearden | October 6, 2008
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