Leading shares sagged to fresh eight-month lows on the FTSE as the market ran scared of technology and telecom shares after a grim outlook from top chipmaker Intel and as investors brooded about US corporate governance.
Mobile giant Vodafone slumped six per cent to 4 1/2-year lows of around 91 pence, hacking 16 points off the blue chip index, which by 12.09 p.m. was down 80.2 points or 1.6 per cent to 4,877.4.
The index earlier touched a session low of 4,864 points, its lowest since the start of October when it stood at 4,758 as it raced up from the post-September 11th low of 4,220.
Intel pared its revenue guidance, citing lower-than-expected demand in Europe, sparking a steep slide in its stock in after-hours trading.
Vodafone fell further after the report that its Japanese subsidiary J-Phone had disappointing subscriber numbers, analysts said. The shares were also under pressure from sharply lower US wireless telecoms shares which fell after AirGate of the U.S. cut its subscriber growth forecast.
Vodafone rival mmO2 shed 5.1 per cent and chip designer ARM Holdings dropped 4.6 per cent, losing support as it heads towards relegation from the FTSE 100 index in a quarterly review which takes place next week.
The techMARK index of technology shares fell 1.9 per cent to 940.2, a record low since it was launched in November 1999.