A strong opening by London's equity market was gradually eroded yesterday by a sudden and sharp sell-off in the oil majors, which have a substantial weighting in the FTSE 100.

The selling pressure was triggered by a decline in the oil price, which recently dropped below the $20-a-barrel (€19) level after its year-long advance during which its price more than doubled. In addition, stockbroker HSBC piled on the agony by issuing a sell recommendation on Shell.

While oil stocks were being dragged down, taking the Footsie index with them, the bank and telecom sectors continued to make rapid progress. Vodafone AirTouch was the best of the telecoms and one of the market's top performers. Turnover in equities was one billion shares.