Markets eager for the weekend to draw breath

Published Date: 11 October 2008 THE weekend could not arrive soon enough last night as a near-9 per cent slump in the value of the Footsie capped the worst week for blue-chip shares since "Black Monday" in 1987. The benchmark FTSE 100 index plunged 381.7 points to 3,932.1, marki ng its lowest level since May 2003. It followed declines of 8 per cent on Monday, 5 per cent on Tuesday and 1 per cent on Thursday (Wednesday's 0.4 per cent upturn proving to be a blip) – and means the index has lost more than a fifth of its value this week, wiping some £250 billion off the market values of Britain's biggest firms. There was just one gainer in the top flight – financial news and information provider Thomson Reuters, which nudged up a penny. David Evans, market analyst at BetOnMarkets.com, said: "We are now witnessing the great... [read full story]