Markets: FTSE 100 slides ahead of the weekend

• FTSE 100 down 1.9% to 6,115
• Gold up 0.35% to $1,274.24/oz
• £/$ 1.4257

Financial stocks were among the day's performers. Standard Life led the index down with a 4.1% slump. Barclays lost 3.9%, Prudential fell 3.8% and Standard Chartered, Old Mutual and RBS lost between 3.7% and 3.5%.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 fell 2.2% to 4,306 and the German Xetra Dax lost 2.5% to 9,834.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7% to 17,865, the S&P 500 lost 0.9% to 2,096, and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.3% lower at 4,894.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 and the broader Topix index each slid 3.5% to 16,019 and 1,284 respectively. Chinese markets remained closed for a public holiday.

Brent spot was trading at $50.13 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $48.58. Spot gold was trading at $1,281 an ounce, silver was at $17.24 and platinum was at $991.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.4187 and against the euro at 1.2591. The dollar was trading at 0.8875 against the euro and 106.10 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, Mike Ashley, the controversial founder of Sports Direct, has expressed an interest in buying the BHS name and some of its shops. "We have written to the administrator about saving a number of jobs and stores along with the BHS name", a spokesman for Sports Direct said.