European markets went into a sharp reverse on Wednesday as a drop on Wall Street reverberated across global trading.

The FTSE 100 – which ended Tuesday within inches of closing above 6,000 points for the first time since plunging in March – dropped 1.5pc to 5,904.1 despite a falling pound, with most of London’s blue-chips dropping. The falls were even worse on the Continent – France’s CAC and Germany’s DAX fell out of bed after a quiet session the day before, dropping sharply and holding in the red throughout the day.

A run of poor data rubbed salt into the wounds, with the UK economy confirmed as having shrunk nearly 6pc in March, and US producer prices coming in lower than expected.

In a sign of the risk-off sentiment that had taken hold, yields on UK two-year gilts plunged deeper into negative territory, setting a new record low.

Despite the glum mood, a few of London’s blue-chips managed to stay above the fray and grab gains following updates,

Among them was engineering firm Spirax-Sarco, which hit a record high after saying it expects trading conditions to improve in the fourth quarter of the year. UBS analyst Guillermo Peigneux Lojo said the group’s latest update showed its relative resilience, with only a small drop-off in business. It closed the day up 204p at £94.66.

Plumbing group Ferguson rose 56p to £60.24, after beating analysts’ expectations for its latest quarter.

The group said it had been trading “in line with expectations” until late March, but warned it had taken a knock due to coronavirus in the period since, with revenues from its continuing operations dropping 15.3pc in April.

Liberum’s Charlie Campbell said the results were “better than expected”, noting Ferguson’s “strong financial position”.

Shares in enterprise software company Sage also climbed after analysts gave its first-half results a mixed reception. Its profits before tax for the six months to the end of March was £275m, up 40pc from the same period a year before. But revenues were little changed, at £975m compared to £957m.

Citi’s Ross Jobber said the group faces risks to the downside, adding: “After recent strength the share price is in a similar two way pull between the attractions of a growing dividend from a strong balance sheet on the one hand, and an uncertain growth outlook on the other”. Sage closed up 11.6p at 666.6p.

Cruise operator Carnival topped the FTSE 100 fallers, dropping 11pc to 838.2p, although its shares are still off the 620p low they hit in March. They started the year above £36 a piece however.