FTSE slides further as Japanese quake hits Asian markets

A major earthquake in Japan last night rocked fragile markets already reeling from Moody's downgrade of Spain yesterday, with the FTSE 100 falling further after hitting a five week low.

The blue chip index dropped 1.6% or 92 points, to close at 5,845 last night, before making furthers losses in early trading Friday.

It was down lower this morning, off 0.16% at 5,836 points, as investors reacted to the massive earthquake in Northern Japan.

The quake, which registered 8.9 in magnitude, struck while Tokyo was still trading. By close, the Nikkei fell 1.72%. As the news spread westwards, the Dow Jones plunged 228 points, a fall of 1.87% to stand at 11,984.61.

Yesterday, investors had already been spooked after Moody's downgraded Spain's sovereign credit rating from Aa2 to Aa1, renewing fears about the fragile state of Europe's economy.

Reports of authorities firing on protesters in Saudi Arabia are continuing to unsettle traders, with the price of Brent Crude oil futures also down 1.8% to $113.38 per barrel.

Other markets also lost ground, with the German Dax off 1.07% to 6987.28, and the French Cac down 0.87% to 6353.55.