Headline shares tumbled to heavy losses in midday trade, as investors fretted over new EU hedge fund regulation and Germany's ban on shorting, and as a strengthening dollar hit metals prices.  At high noon, the FTSE100 was down 117.75 points at 5,189.59 with the FTSE250 off 254.7 points at 9,738.54 and the FTSE Smallcaps 34.04 points lower at 2,811.03. US stock futures were sharply lower, investors fretting over the German ban on naked short selling and continuing worries over the level of European sovereign debt. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 105 points, S&P500 futures slipped 13.7 points at 1,105 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 22 points to 1,865.

LONDON MARKETS

Equity markets in London experienced sharp falls from the opening bell today, investor sentiment dented by Germany's ban on naked short-selling and EU moves to regulate the hedge fund industry. Coupled with this, a strengthening US dollar impacted commodity prices, sending miners and oil producers lower. There were no gainers at all on the main index at midday.

Mining stocks provided the bulk of the fallers at high noon, hit by an easing in metals prices on the back of a rise in the dollar. Xstrata Plc (LON:XTA) was the sector's worst performer, off 69p at 940.5p, while Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) slid 208p at 2,990p and Kazakhmys (LON:KAZ) lost 76p at 1,144p. Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) and Fresnillo (LON:FRES) slumped 165p at 5,885p and 27p at 848.5p, respectively, as gold slipped to $1,205 an ounce. Similarly, oil producers were hit by crude sliding towards $68 a barrel, with Shell off 33p at 1,769p, BG Group (LON:BG.) down 16p at 1,030p and BP (LON:BP.) 4.1p lower at 529.9p.

In the financial sphere, interdealer broker ICAP (LON:IAP) was a major casualty, down 13.3p at 376.3p, after reporting a drop in annual profit. Hedge fund manager Man Group (LON:EMG) was under pressure as a result of EU regulation concerns, losing 4.9p at 215.4p. Fellow fund manager Schroders (LON:SDR) dropped 26p at 1,357p and private equity group 3i (LON:III) lost 9.6p at 273.9p. Barclays (LON:BARC) was the runt of the banking litter, off 15.55p at 290.3p, while Lloyds fell 1.6p at 56.55p and Royal Bank Of Scotland Group Plc (LON:RBS) eased 1.52p at 45.8p.

News from commercial property giant Land Securities Group Plc (LON:LAND)…

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