London close: Stocks slump again

Volatility returned with a vengeance on Thursday, with the leading share index slumping back towards the lows it hit last week.The day got off to a bad start after a gloomy report on global economic growth from Morgan Stanley and things got worse after some more poor figures from the US.The global recovery path is now more "bumpy, below-par and brittle" than first thought, according to Morgan Stanley, which has cut its global growth forecasts for 2011. The US investment bank warned that the economic powerhouses, the US and the Eurozone, are "hovering dangerously close to a recession - defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction - over the next 6-12 months", as its cut its estimates for 2011 gross domestic product growth from 4.2% to 3.9%. The Philadelphia Reserve Bank said its business activity index for the mid-Atlantic region, which measures factory activity, fell to -30.7 from +3.2 the previous month. A negative reading indicates contraction.Here, Retail sales in July grew less than expected in another sign of weakness in the UK economy. Sales were up by just 0.2% from the previous month, against expectations of a 0.3% rise, new data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) shows. When compared with July 2010, sales were flat. Banks were among the main casualties at the close of play, with Barclays and RBS both posting double-digit percentage losses. International Power, the power generator that is 70% owned by French utility company GDF Suez, fell after announcing that it is to expand the Jirau Hydro project, the largest hydro power project currently under construction in the world. Cinema group Cineworld suffered a profits fall of over 40% in the first half. However, the group posted sales that beat internal expectations as it confirmed its positive outlook for the second half.Telecoms equipment firm BATM Advanced Communications moves higher after it announced strong results for the six months ended 30 June 2011 reflecting a good recovery. The group's revenue was up 16.64% to $64.5m (2010: $55.3m) with gross profit up 17.67% to $23.3m (2010: 19.8m). Investment company Alexander David's decision to focus on AIM oil and gas companies unfortunately coincided with the start of a sharp decline in share prices in the sector. Alexander David used to be the pharmaceutical company ReGen Therapeutics, but decided to change its focus at the start of the year. The FTSE AIM All Share super sector Oil and Gas index fell by 20% between 18 February and 30 June. FTSE 100 - RisersAssociated British Foods (ABF) 1,035.00p -0.29%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,415.00p -0.39%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,029.00p -1.36%Centrica (CNA) 296.20p -1.46%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 434.80p -1.92%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 285.00p -2.03%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 298.00p -2.07%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,251.00p -2.19%British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,676.50p -2.26%Unilever (ULVR) 2,025.00p -2.27%FTSE 100 - FallersBarclays (BARC) 154.00p -11.47%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 21.95p -11.31%Xstrata (XTA) 972.00p -10.17%Glencore International (GLEN) 355.45p -10.01%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 29.80p -9.26%John Wood Group (WG.) 526.50p -8.67%Cairn Energy (CNE) 286.50p -8.67%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,429.00p -8.28%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 958.00p -8.24%Aggreko (AGK) 1,736.00p -8.00%FTSE 250 - RisersBH Global Ltd. USD Shares (BHGU) 11.18 +0.63%BH Macro Ltd. USD Shares (BHMU) 18.6 +0.54%Savills (SVS) 314.10p +0.51%BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 1,913.00p +0.37%Avis Europe (AVE) 313.00p +0.16%BH Global Ltd. GBP Shares (BHGG) 1,121.00p +0.09%Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) 458.50p -0.22%BH Macro Ltd. EUR Shares (BHME) € 18.40 -0.27%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 603.00p -0.50%HICL Infrastructure Company Ltd. (HICL) 115.10p -0.60%FTSE 250 - FallersThomas Cook Group (TCG) 44.16p -16.13%Regus (RGU) 67.20p -15.79%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 514.50p -13.09%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 39.20p -12.17%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 324.30p -11.42%Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 246.00p -11.22%Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 254.00p -11.19%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 296.90p -10.92%Ashtead Group (AHT) 103.10p -10.66%International Personal Finance (IPF) 234.00p -10.41%