While the FTSE 100 has fallen below the 6,000 level for the first time since last August, the real damage is being done among the mid-caps.
The FTSE 250 has closed down 138.9 points at 9626.9, its lowest level since September 2006. Dealers said the mid and small cap sector was being hit hard, with high volumes of shares traded.
To cheer everyone up, Clem Chambers, chief executive of stocks and shares website ADVFN said: "The FTSE 250 and the small caps have crashed. How long can the FTSE 100 hold out? With the big cap index below 6,000 and only miners holding up the market, the chances of a crash - or at best a nasty correction - are growing quickly."
He may not have seen the performance of the miners today: they were certainly not holding anything up. Quite the reverse. Eight out of the 10 fallers in the leading index were miners, with Antofagasta down 6.8% at 589.5p and Rio Tinto - despite a reasonable production report - 6.6% lower at £46.65.
The main reason was a fall in metal prices on growing fears of a US recession and a subsequent drop in demand for commodities.
Other fallers included the London Stock Exchange, down 97p to £16.14 on competition worries.
