European markets have plunged this afternoon with the CAC 40 and DAX diving up to 2pc in intraday trade. The FTSE 100 has been spared much of the pain but still suffered from the mass sell-off over the channel.

Telecom and healthcare stocks were the few bright patches on the FTSE 100 as oil stocks dropped on a weakening crude price.

The pound has deteriorated during the afternoon against the dollar and euro with modest gains reversing into modest losses. It is currently trading at $1.2969 against the dollar.

The main economics highlight was the ONS' public sector borrowing figures release, which showed a widening deficit and that borrowing is £1.9bn higher than last year for the financial year to date.

Neil Wilson commented on today's markets: