Oil prices drop to four-year low

Oil and share prices fell further in early European trade as fears deepened over prospects for the global economy. The Brent crude benchmark fell $1.65 a barrel to $88.40, a price not seen since November 2010. The head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, crystallised investors' worries about flagging economic growth when she warned the eurozone could slip back into recession. London's FTSE 100 share index was down 29.66 points, or 0.46 per cent, at 6,402.19. Shares in Paris and Frankfurt were down a similar amount. The falls came after similar declines in the US and Asia. The Dow Jones on Thursday had its biggest one-day fall of the year, closing down almost 2 per cent at 16,659.25. In Tokyo on Friday, the Nikkei closed down 1.15 per cent to a two-month low of 15,300.55 points. US oil fell $1.92 a barrel to $83.85, its weakest level since June 2012. Both oil benchmarks have lost about 20 per cent since their peak in June. This week, German economic data has presented a consistently negative picture, with Thursday's release showing export numbers down 5.8 per cent in August, according to BBC.