Stocks turmoil: FTSE 100 hits three-year low after oil falls through $28 - as it happened

All the latest economic and financial news, as world markets continue to gyrate amid fears over China's economy

• European markets sag after early rally
• Stiglitz: China fears are overblown
• Japan on brink of bear market
• Oil falls though $28 after Iranian santions lifted

6.42pm GMT

And on a final note, tough negotiations between debt-stricken Greece and its creditors over further cost-cutting measures has once again - alas - got off to a rocky start as the role of the International Monetary Fund comes under scrutiny.

"It is very important that pensions are not reduced for a 12th or 13th time for social and economic reasons."

6.17pm GMT

After a jittery day, Europe's main stock markets all closed lower tonight.

That extends 2016's losses, but it's a whimper rather than a rout as London's FTSE 100 hits a new three-year low.

The absence of the usual bump in afternoon volumes from US investors left European stock markets a little sleepy on Monday as Americans celebrated Martin Luther King Jr Day.

As has become the custom recently; it was the volatile price of oil that set the tone for equity trading. A bounce off the lows set in Asian trading for crude oil helped an encouraging start for European equities but as oil prices slid back, equities fell into the red.

4.03pm GMT

It's not all gloom today. Over in Ireland, there are signs that its economy continues to recover from its debt crisis.

2.21pm GMT

Time for a quick recap:

European markets have lurched between gains and losses today as the turmoil in the financial markets enters its third week.

Markets Now European indexes slightly lower https://t.co/qoyBv0jGin pic.twitter.com/xdpcym3eLm

2.05pm GMT

Nigeria's stock market is enduring a bad day.

The main index has slumped 4% to its lowest level since mid 2012, hit by the falling oil price.

Nigeria stocks enter bear market

2.02pm GMT

In a double dose of bad news for the UK economy, Asda is cutting 200 jobs at its headquarters in Leeds.

It follows a tough Christmas for the Walmart-owned supermarket chain.

Related: Asda to cut 200 jobs at Leeds head officei

1.56pm GMT

A thousand jobs are being cut across Tata Steel's British operating, including 750 at its Port Talbot plant in Wales.

Related: Tata job cuts: union calls for government action

"These job losses are a real setback to the Welsh economy and it's clear that firms in our steel industry face major global challenges to stay competitive.

"Chinese steel imports look to be having a big impact and it's important that the European Commission urgently reports back on whether the market has been distorted unfairly by excess market supply.

12.05pm GMT

The FT sums it up:

European equities are all over the shop today https://t.co/1GkG528CX7 pic.twitter.com/3WSFWJjGEL

11.46am GMT

Here's a sobering fact: the total value of the world's listed companies has dropped to its lowest level since the autumn of 2013:

Not even pessimists thought things would go so wrong so fast in 2016. Global mkt cap has plunged to lowest since '13 pic.twitter.com/IuiyT2PKxH

11.17am GMT

Volatile morning this.

European markets have now crept into positive territory again, with the FTSE 100 up a 'mighty' 13 points.

Everyone excited by oil back above $29 #crisisover

11.12am GMT

Over in Paris, president Francois Hollande has announced a new a2bn job creation scheme to tackle France's unemployment crisis.

"These two billion euros will be financed without any new taxes of any kind, in other words, they will be financed by savings."

French President Francois Hollande has declared what he called "a state of economic emergency" and says it's time to redefine France's economic and social model.

Hollande laid out a series of proposed economic measures Monday in an annual speech to business leaders to boost long-stagnant French growth and reduce chronic unemployment.

10.55am GMT

Today's floundering rally means that that Stoxx 600 index of major European companies has shed 15% of its value since the start of December.

"We should remember that volatility is the price you pay for the long-term outperformance of equities over other asset classes.

"It is also worth remembering that staying fully invested through market cycles makes sense because missing even a handful of the best days in the market can seriously compromise your long-term returns. The best days in the market invariably follow close behind the worst ones - time in the market matters more than timing the market."

10.15am GMT

Reuters is reporting that China's top stock market regulator has offered to quit, after seeing hundreds of billions of dollars wiped off shares in recent months.

It's not clear if Xiao Gang's resignation has been accepted; but he may pay the price for the turbulence at the start of this year.

Xiao Gang, 57, chairman of the China Securities RegulatoryCommission (CSRC), tendered his resignation last week after his brainchild, a "circuit breaker" mechanism to limit stock market losses, was blamed for exacerbating a sharp selloff and was deactivated on January 7, just three days after its introduction, a source with ties to the leadership and a financial industry source told Reuters.

#China chief stock regulator Gang has offered to resign as bad regulation has enhanced chaos https://t.co/Y7VOKQ15SQ pic.twitter.com/G6px2yeRby

10.05am GMT

Those City analysts were right to be cautious..... Europe's main stock markets are all in the red.

The brief rally has unwound itself, and here's the situation:

In mid-morning trading, the FTSE 100's early gains have evaporated as quickly as yesterday's snowfall.

9.55am GMT

The ructions in the global markets have just driven India's main index down to a 20-month low:

CNBC-TV18 Market Alert: Sensex Slips To Lowest Level Since May 21, 2014: Sensex 24180.13 -1.12%

9.52am GMT

Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz reckons that fears over China are overblown.

"There's always been a gap between what's happening in the real economy and financial markets."

"What's happening in China is a slowdown by all accounts....but it's not a cataclysmic slowdown."

9.41am GMT

Over in Davos, the World Economic Forum is making the final preparations ahead of its Annual Meeting, which begins on Tuesday night.

Related: Women to lose out in jobs revolution, WEF warns

9.25am GMT

Europe's early rally is already petering out, with the FTSE 100 now up only 4 points at 5808.

Equities now flat on the day...positive sentiment lasted a whole hr and 15 mins!

9.17am GMT

China's central bank took fresh measures over the weekend to protect its currency against speculators.

The People's Bank of China announced that foreign banks who engage in offshore yuan trading must place some of their yuan reserves with the central bank.

The danger is that this just leaves markets to focus attention elsewhere.

#China stocks closed higher after PBoC calmed nerves w/ higher Yuan fixing. ChiNext gained most, Up 2.9% at 2174.93. pic.twitter.com/sZ5YEN1GpT

8.49am GMT

City analysts are cautioning that today's rally in Europe may be a temporary respite.

Mike van Dulken of Accendo Markets says that "concerns are still growing over global economic strength in the face of a collapsing commodities space".

A positive start to the week for European equities? Well that makes a change

Oil remains front of mind for many and the prospect of Iranian supplies coming back onto the global market certainly rattled investors in the Middle East yesterday, but elsewhere the reaction has been rather more muted. We've seen a calm session in Asia, although with crude prices now retreating once again, it would seem ambitious to think that we can read too much into the current air of calm.

With many markets on Wall Street closed for Martin Luther King Day, this may also help calm nerves - the week may not open with quite the catastrophic start some had eyed.

8.41am GMT

European stock markets are actually rising this morning, which might reassure nerves.

The FTSE 100 index has gained 35 points, of 0.6%, to 5839. That claws back some of Friday's rout, where the blue-chip index lost around 110 points.

8.32am GMT

Investors will be watching the oil market closely this week, says Michael Hewson of CMC Markets:

The continued weakness in commodity prices, particularly in the oil and gas sector continues to spook world markets and now that Iran has been given the green light to come in from the cold, it is likely to be difficult to see where the next rebound in oil prices is likely to come from, raising concerns about further bankruptcy losses across the sector, if as predicted prices fall further towards $20 a barrel.

Oil fell below $28 a barrel earlier - it's now just above that https://t.co/eQHi9SRATU pic.twitter.com/eyFLBfaAqx

8.29am GMT

It's been a grim few months for commodities, with oil at a 12-year low and many metals hitting their lowest levels since the financial crisis.

And Bloomberg's Caroline Hyde flags up that City speculators are betting that the slump will continue:

Bets against #Commodities continue... pic.twitter.com/AeztpHxJa4

8.26am GMT

Oil traders have marked Iran's return to the markets by sending the cost of crude oil down to its lowest level in over 12 years.

The West's decision to lift sanctions on Tehran helped to push Brent crude down to $27.67 per barrel today. Traders are anticipating a new surge of supplies hitting the market, intensifying worries about supply gluts.

Related: Oil price dips below $28 to 13-year low as markets brace for Iranian supply

8.17am GMT

Japan wasn't the only Asia-Pacific market to suffer the Monday blues.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell by 1.1%, hitting a three-year low, as fears over China's economy hit confidence again.

8.08am GMT

Japan's stock market is on the brink of a new bear market, after being hit by the global market turmoil.

Nikkei ends down 1.1% at 16955.57, closes below 17,000 for 1st time since Sept. pic.twitter.com/TnguP54uJS

7.52am GMT

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

After the worst start to a New Year ever, world markets are facing another week of turbulence.

Related: Rouhani hails 'turning point' as Iran embraces post-sanctions era

Regarding China, we don't see the cataclysmic 2008-style 'credit crunch' forming that some market participants do, but that doesn't mean that we are not concerned.

There are significant risks. China now accounts for approximately 17% of global GDP; up from 10% in 2005. Any material slowdown in the second largest economy in the world would have significant ramifications for the rest of the globe. China is attempting to make the transition from a manufacturing-led economy to a service-led economy - a transition that took the UK generations - in a decade or so. That process is not going to be without difficulty, and the Chinese authorities are learning as they go. Mistakes will happen.