'Sharp falls' for FTSE 100 as it loses 1.5%

There were sharp falls for the leading index on the British stock exchange as it fell by 1.5 per cent today (November 16th).

The FTSE 100 decreased by 84.92 points at 5,735.49 by 12:17 GMT, partly down to banks, mining stocks and concerns about the debt in Ireland, Reuters reports.

Among the former, the Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Chartered had particularly negative results by losing 2.8 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively.

However, they were both eclipsed by Man Group, which shed 4.4 per cent.

Peter Dixon, economist at Commerzbank, said the worries about Ireland are badly impacting on the market with all organisations "feeling the pain".

He added: "The miners may take a bit of a hit if and when the Chinese economy slows down so you've got all sorts of other factors coming into play."

This comes in contrast to around midday yesterday when the FTSE 100 was up by 0.1 per cent.

Posted by Greg Secker