Britain's FTSE 100 tumbled at the opening towards 27-month lows today in response to a Wall Street slide where investors were disappointed US interest rates were cut by only half a percentage point.
The blue chip index fell 82.7 points or 1.46 per cent to 5,564.1 by 8.20 a.m., eroding a 1.7 per cent jump yesterday.
"We're seeing the expected retreat but with US index futures not looking too bad and the Far East doing well, it's not quite the doom and gloom that many were expecting," said one dealer.
A 4.8-per cent fall in the US tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite hit technology shares in particular. Among software firms, Misys fell 6.4 per cent and Logica was down 6.1 per cent.
The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 2.4 per cent to its lowest close in nearly two years.