The FTSE 100 is down by over 2% on Thursday morning as fears are growing over the impact of a potential switch in policy by the Federal Reserve.
“The FTSE 100 took a bath on Thursday morning, dragged lower by weakness in the resources sector amid fears the US Federal Reserve might be about to pull the rug from under the market by tapering its support for the economy early,” says AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
Mining giant Antofagasta saw a substantial drop in its share price as the firm lowered its guidance.
“But the Fed minutes, showing a split between members over when to start scaling back financial stimulus, the continuing spread globally for the Delta variant, weakness in the Chinese economy and the turmoil in Afghanistan add up to a cocktail of worries which are dogging investor sentiment,” Mould added.
“The question now is whether a volatile week is the prelude to the kind of late summer sell-off we have seen in previous years or if the market can regain its poise moving into the autumn.”
FTSE 100 Top Movers
Polymetal (0.70%), Just Eat (0.36%) and National Grid (0.26%) are the only three companies to be in the green at the time of writing on Thursday morning.
At the bottom of the FTSE 100, on a day of poor showings across the index, is Anglo American (-10.8%), Phoenix Group Holdings (-4.69%) and M&G (-4.6%).