FTSE plunges, ends down 3.05%

London's main share index plunged lower on Wednesday amid new debt fears over Greece and rumours of a France credit rating downgrade that was immediately denied by ministry officials.The benchmark FTSE 100 fell 3.05 percent to close at 5,007.16 points.The trend was repeated across Europe, with the CAC-40 in Paris ending down 5.45 percent, Frankfurt's DAX down 5.13 percent, Madrid's Ibex-35 down 5.49 percent and Milan's FTSE MIB falling 6.65 percent -- its worst performance since April 2009. Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) remained the most traded blue chip with investors exchanging 261 million shares, closely followed by Vodafone which saw 228 million shares change hands.. Insurer Standard Life finished top of the risers, up 5.74 percent -- or 10 pence -- to close at 184.1, followed by miner Randgold Reserves, which ended the session up 4.33 percent -- or 265 pence -- at 6,385.India-focused energy company Essar Energy was the biggest casualty, down 12.6% -- or 37.8 pence -- at 262.1.Barclays was also under pressure as the beleaguered banking group saw its share price slump 8.7 percent -- or 15.6 pence -- to end the session at 163.7.On the currency markets, sterling slipped against the dollar but rose against the euro. At 1714 BST, the pound was trading at $1.6179, down from $1.6196 at the same time on Tuesday, while it reached 1.1392 euros, up from 1.1372 over the same period.