FTSE 100 drops to three-month low as pound also slumps

London’s top stock index slid to its lowest closing price for three months on Tuesday amid a global sell-off, while the pound slumped after a drop in wage growth.

Top commodity stocks in the City had a particularly poor session, with Anglo American, Glencore and Antofagasta all lower on the back of waning metal prices.

Vodafone and Shell were also notable drags on the FTSE 100.

The index finished 99.42 points, or 1.22%, lower to end the day at 8,025.77.

“The stock market rally is on pause on Tuesday,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

“There have been some chunky losses for European stocks, and even US stocks have seen their gains slow.”

In continental Europe, the main indexes fell back amid concerns over the Chinese economy, with a weak response to its latest fiscal stimulus announcement.

The Cac 40 ended 2.69% lower for the day and the Dax index was down 2.06%.

Stateside, the main Wall Street stock benchmarks opened in the red as their recent rally faded, although tech stocks were broadly positive once again.

Meanwhile, sterling dropped further after fresh labour market data from the Office for National Statistics showed that wage growth has fallen to its lowest level for more than two years.

The pound was down 1.09% at 1.273 US dollars and down 0.5% at 1.200 euros.

In company news, Vodafone was among the day’s biggest fallers after the telecoms firm missed sales expectations on the back of lower revenues in Germany.

The FTSE 100 company however saw growing service revenue in the first half and said it hopes to wrap up its merger with mobile network Three by early 2025.

Shares in the business were down 6% at 67.02p.

Dublin-based conglomerate DCC however had a strong session after the firm told investors it is plotting to break up the group to focus solely on its energy division.

The company said it was preparing to sell its healthcare arm and was reviewing options for its technology business as part of its latest strategy.

DCC shares were up 14.2% at 5,670p.

Oil major Shell was lower at the close after it was ordered to reduce its carbon emissions by 45% by 2030, compared with 2019 levels, in a landmark decision by a Dutch court.

Shares in the company were 1.25% down at 2,518p at the close.

Meanwhile, Metro Bank was in the green despite being fined ?16.6 million by regulators for failings over money laundering controls.

The challenger bank closed the session up 2.25% at 86.4p after its bosses revealed it returned to profitability in October in the same update.

The price of oil ticked slightly higher in a rebound from weakness earlier in the week, but concerns about the global economy have held back further gains.

A barrel of Brent crude oil was up by 0.6% to 72.21 dollars (?56.77) as markets were closing in London.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were ConvaTec, up 47.8p to 264.4p, DCC, up 704p to 5,670p, Rightmove, up 15.6p to 607.6p, Smith & Nephew, up 18.4p to 956.2p, and Centrica, up 1.25p to 117.95p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Vodafone, down 5.98p to 67.02p, Fresnillo, down 53p to 623p, Vistry, down 42p to 713.5p, Prudential, down 33.4p to 608p, and Anglo American, down 106.5p to 2,220p.