London shares follow global markets with new falls

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London’s benchmark share index, the FTSE 100, has fallen 1% amid signs of greater volatility on the financial markets.

The fall comes after sharp losses for US shares on Friday, when the Dow Industrials lost 2.5%.

That was the biggest one-day loss since June 2016.

On Friday the markets were spooked by strong US wage growth which raised the possibility of an accelerated pace of interest rate rises.

The FTSE 100 was down 67 points at 7,376. Earlier the biggest markets in Asian fell between 1% and 2.5%.

However, those falls come after some very good years for investors.

The Dow Jones rose more than 25% in 2017 – a year which was also unusual for its lack of sharp moves.

“There is going to be more volatility this year, ” Andrew Wilson chief executive of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, told the BBC.

“We are in a cycle where central banks are reducing the amount of bonds they are buying and some central banks putting up interest rates,” he said.

On Friday there was a hefty 4% loss for shares in Apple, which had been one of the markets’ star performers in recent years.

That selling came despite a solid trading update from the company.

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