London - AFP
Stocks in London closed sharply down on Thursday as eurozone woes and more weak US data sparked concern that the world could be heading for another sharp downturn.The FTSE 100 index of top shares tumbled 3.43 percent to 5,393.14 points.Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) was the most traded stock of the day with 319 million shares changing hands, followed by Vodafone, which saw 162 million shares switching owners. Miner Randgold Resources (RRS) was the best blue-chip performer, rising 6.57 percent -- 365 pence -- to finish at 5,920, followed by Unilever, which climbed 2.73 percent -- 52 pence -- to close at 1,957.British satellite operator Inmarsat led the fallers, plunging 19.3 percent -- 94.4 pence -- to close at 394, after it abandoned its year-end growth foreast.It was followed by Lloyds, which was down 10.2 percent -- 3.97 pence -- to finish at 34.99. On the currency markets, a pound was worth 1.630 dollars at 1605 GMT, up from 1.640 at the same time on Wednesday, while it stood at 1.151 euros, down from 1.1459 euros over the same period.