London's leading share index has rounded off its worst first-quarter performance since its launch in 1984.

The FTSE 100 Index shed 754.8 points - or 12% - in the first three months of the year, as stock market turmoil wiped billions from the value of UK blue chips.

The Footsie closed at 5702.1, down from the 6456.9 opening mark on the first day of thisyear's trading, marking the biggest first-quarter fall since the FTSE 100 was founded 24 years ago.

Impending recession fears in America and the global money market crisis has seen shares plummet.

The top tier fought back last week after disastrous trading before the Easter break,increasing 3.6% in a seemingly determined bounce-back from the 136.5 points fall seen the previous week.

But this was not enough to prevent the first-quarter performance from making history as the worst ever for the FTSE 100.

And the losses over the first three months of the year also saw the FTSE All Share Index - the aggregate of the FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and Small Cap Index - tumble by 11%.

With a history going back further than the top flight FTSE 100 Index, experts said that the first-quarter decline was the steepest seen by the All Share for three decades.

David Schwartz, stock market historian, said the falls so far this year on the London market were "unbelievable".

He said: "I don't think there's anybody in this market who has ever experienced this kind of volatility before.

"You have euphoria one day followed by clouds of pessimism the next, with heightened volatility causing massive intra-day swings - it's unprecedented."

Copyright © PA Business 2008