Volatility grips world stock markets as FTSE 100 bleeds £50bn

US stock markets remain volatile following a violent correction in values that has hit financial markets across the world.

After the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered the biggest one-day points loss in its 122-year history on Monday, stocks in Asia and Europe took further hits on Tuesday.

The FTSE 100 opened 3.5% lower but recovered some of those losses by the close. It ended the day 2.6% - or 193 points - down at 7141. That marked its lowest closing level since April last year.
It meant that almost £50bn of value was erased following a £27bn hit in the previous session, while other major European bourses fell in similar fashion.

:: Why stock markets are tumbling across the globe

Share price falls this month have been linked to market fears that stocks are over-valued - equities having been the main source for investor cash since the financial crisis at a time of record low borrowing costs.

But a key US jobs report on Friday, showing better-than-expected wage data, spooked sentiment because it raised the prospect of the US central bank raising interest rates at a faster pace to cool inflation.
The Dow Jones was trading within a range of 1,000 points on Tuesday
It heralded the start of a correction rather than a crash, experts said, with investors betting on low market volatility getting their fingers burned as the so-called Vix measure of volatility hit levels not seen since 2011.

US stock markets dived by 2% on opening on Tuesday but entered positive territory just minutes later. The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq have been seeing swings between gains and losses ever since. Dow swings were of up to 1,000 points.
Financial stocks have been hardest hit worldwide.

On the FTSE 100 on Tuesday asset managers felt the most pain, with Standard Life Aberdeen, Schroders, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Hargreaves Lansdown all falling around the 5% mark.

The decline in its value means the index is now 650 points below its record high achieved only last month.