London open: 'Tapering' concerns hit markets hard as Fed signals end to QE

Markets across Europe dropped sharply in early trading on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last night signalled that the central bank could soon start to scale back its quantitative easing (QE) programme.Fed confirms QE taperStocks on Wall Street last night were trading slightly lower as the Federal Open Market Committee maintained its $85bn-a-month of asset purchases, but the sell-off accelerated after Bernanke's press conference. QE, a stimulus programme which has flooded financial markets with liquidity for nearly five years, could come to a complete stop when the US jobless rate reaches around 7.0%, Bernanke said last night. While he assured that policy "is in no way predetermined and will depend on the incoming data and the outlook", he said that "the Committee currently anticipates that it would be appropriate to moderate the monthly pace of purchases later this year"."The euro gets a knocking versus a stronger dollar, commodities are sliding across the board, peripheral bond yields are on the rise and core government bonds are on the back-foot. Nothing seems safe at the moment!" said Market Strategist Ishaq Siddiqi from ETX Capital."[...] we are in for a turbulent few months until the Fed starts the process of unwinding with volatility expected to grip the markets daily as investors adjust their portfolios in wait for the reduction of liquidity in the global market place," Siddiqi said.Economic data also in focusAlso weighing on sentiment this morning was the news that Chinese factory activity fell to a nine-month low in June, casting further doubts over the recovery of the world's second-largest economy with weaker growth expected in the second quarter. The preliminary HSBC China manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) dropped to 48.3 in June, missing the consensus estimate of 49.1. May's final reading of 49.2 had been the first time in seven months that the index had shown a contraction. Readings above 50 imply an expansion in the sector. If that wasn't enough to digest, there are also a series of other PMIs due for release in the Eurozone this morning, as well as UK retail sales. Over in the States this afternoon, US jobless claims for last week will be released, along with the manufacturing PMI, existing home sales and Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index.Miners drop sharply as metals slideMining stocks were bearing the brunt of a commodities sell-off across the board this morning as risk appetite declined in the aftermath of the Fed meeting and gloomy Chinese data. Randgold Resources, Polymetal, Fresnillo, Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton, Vedanta Resources and Glencore Xstrata. were all registering heavy losses early on.Banking stocks were also lower, albeit still outperforming the wider FTSE 100, as the Prudential Regulation Authority identified a £27.1bn capital shortfall across the UK banking sector. Barclays, Lloyds and RBS, who together account for over 93% of the shortfall, said that they are confident of meeting the PRA's target by the year end without the need to fundraise.British fashion group Ted Baker was bucking the trend this morning with shares surging after the company delivered an impressive 33% rise in revenue for the 20-week period to June 15th. Equipment rental firm Ashtead also rose after reporting a record year for profits, bolstered by revenue growth, operational efficiency and lower financing costs.FTSE 100 - RisersCarnival (CCL) 2,231.00p +0.04%FTSE 100 - FallersRandgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,382.00p -5.64%Polymetal International (POLY) 584.00p -4.96%ARM Holdings (ARM) 800.00p -4.25%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,683.00p -4.20%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,006.00p -3.73%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 385.20p -3.70%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,747.50p -3.56%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,128.00p -3.42%British Land Co (BLND) 577.00p -3.35%Old Mutual (OML) 180.40p -3.11%FTSE 250 - RisersTed Baker (TED) 1,630.00p +10.88%Perform Group (PER) 596.00p +2.85%Ashtead Group (AHT) 644.00p +2.71%NMC Health (NMC) 309.00p +1.48%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 112.50p +1.35%BH Global Ltd. GBP Shares (BHGG) 1,167.00p +1.04%Ocado Group (OCDO) 308.60p +0.95%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,664.00p +0.73%Electra Private Equity (ELTA) 2,280.00p +0.66%Computacenter (CCC) 447.70p +0.61%FTSE 250 - FallersNew World Resources A Shares (NWR) 71.90p -10.12%Petropavlovsk (POG) 136.10p -5.49%Man Group (EMG) 83.50p -4.46%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 342.40p -4.28%Henderson Group (HGG) 145.60p -3.96%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 137.00p -3.86%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 145.50p -3.83%International Personal Finance (IPF) 494.00p -3.61%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 312.60p -3.58%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 195.00p -3.37%