THE London stock market suffered its worst session in nearly a year after economic worries and the bomb blasts in Spain hit confidence.

About £24bn was wiped from the value of the FTSE 100 Index, which closed 100.1 points lower at 4445.2.

The decline - which mirrored the performance of markets around the world - was sparked by Wall Street's reaction to worse than expected US trade deficit numbers.

Disappointing annual results from Royal and Sun All-iance further weighed on the minds of investors before full details of the bomb attacks emerged.

The slump reversed some of the gains enjoyed by the Footsie after recently surging to a 19-month high on the back of renewed economic confidence.

A year ago this week, the blue-chip index stood at a seven-and-a-half year low of 3436.

However, analysts said the scale of the fall suggested the recent rally in world markets may have been overdone.

Hilary Cook, of Barclays Stockbrokers, said: "Ever since May it has been a case of two steps forward and one step back for the London market."