London shares have seen a near 200 point turnaround after today's poor US jobless figures.
So a market which seemed to be comfortably shaking off a poor performance from the UK's retailers, has ended the first - curtailed - week of the New Year on a gloomy note.
The FTSE 100 index - which reached 6534.7 points at its peak today - closed 130.9 points lower at 6348.5. It was Wall Street which did the damage, with an unexpectedly high unemployment number raising the spectre of recession in the world's largest economy.
As mentioned the UK retail sector was in the doldrums even before the US news. A follow on from the poor figures from DSG International - down 1% at 77p - a host of broker downgrades on the likes of Marks & Spencer - 4.5% lower - and Halfords - off 2.6% - and a profit warning from Land of Leather which saw is shares halve in value, all contributed to the downbeat mood.
