FTSE 100 enters bear market as sell-off continues

The FTSE 100 has entered bear market territory, having now fallen 20% from recent highs after the index lost as much as 5% in early trading on Tuesday.

After an initial bounce, the FTSE 100 stood over 5% lower at 4,796 shortly after 9:30am, before recovering later in the hour and strengthening over the rest of the morning. By 12::30pm the index had recovered all the day's losses to reach 5,069. The low point marks a fall of over 20% from the index's recent peak of 6,091, reached in February 2011. The common definition of a bear market is a 20% fall over a period of at least two months. Trading in Europe mirrored the pattern seen in the UK, with early resilience in France and Germany giving way to significant falls. At the lows, Franc...