By Sally Watson, 17 April 2000 11:38
NEWS Following the free-fall of stock prices in the US on Friday, London's FTSE 100 was hit hard this morning as shares plummeted over 260 points to 5,917 at the opening bell - a four per cent drop to a six-month low. The effect was felt across all market sectors, but technology stocks suffered particularly badly with mobile specialist Psion - previously a favourite with investors - falling 23.95 per cent. Security company Baltimore and services firm Logica also both lost over 20 per cent. The Techmark 100, the UK's version of US high-tech market Nasdaq, fell 11 per cent to 3,135, its lowest level since December. Over the weekend, Web search engine AltaVista decided to postpone its Initial Public Offering (IPO) citing the volatile markets as the cause. Internet TV specialist, Yes Television, followed suit this morning, delaying its planned £600m floatation until the market stabilises. By mid-morning the fall had levelled-off, with the FTSE rallying to 5,957 by 11.20am BST.
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