FTSE slides 3.8 percent as economic fears mount

* FTSE 100 down 3.8 percent below 4,000

* Commodity falls hit energy, miners

* Banking, financial stocks slide again

By Simon Falush

LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index slid 3.8 percent early on Friday, led by energy stocks, on mounting fears that the global financial crisis was brewing up a sharp recession and tumbling corporate profits.

By 0800 GMT the FTSE 100 .FTSE had fallen 154.64 points to 3,933.19 after gaining 1.2 percent on Tuesday. The index is down 19.9 percent this month and 39 percent this year.

There was only one stock on the index in positive territory, Friends Provident (FP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), up 1 percent.

Energy stocks took most points off the index as crude oil CLc1 fell below $67 a barrel, near a 16-month low set on Thursday, with investors looking to an emergency meeting of OPEC ministers for details on the extent of an expected production cut.

BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) was down 5.1 percent, Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fell 5.4 percent, while Cairn Energy (CNE.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) lost 6.5 percent.

BG Group fell 5.4 percent. A spokeswoman for BG declined to comment on reports that the company would bid for Queensland Gas (QGC.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Investors shunned risky assets, selling stocks and high-yielding currencies in favour of safer assets, sending the pound to a five-year low below $1.59 .

"The catalyst for today's fall is concerns about corporate profitability," said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, head of private client research at Charles Stanley.

"There's pressure on mining stocks, and there's continued risk aversion, which is hitting emerging markets, and there's a flight to safe havens like the yen."

Miners were also among the biggest fallers as fears of a sharp global slowdown knocked metal prices, with gold falling more than 2 percent and copper losing 2.4 percent.

Xstrata (XTA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fell 4.8 percent, Lonmin (LMI.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) lost 6.1 percent and Anglo American (AAL.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shed 4.9 percent.

Investors are waiting for third-quarter UK GDP data at 0830 GMT for more clues on the length and depth of a likely recession. Analysts polled by Reuters predicted a fall of 0.2 percent for the quarter.

Banks fell across the board as fears on the state of the crisis-hit financial sector persisted. Barclays (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fell 3.4 percent, Lloyds TSB (LLOY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) lost 4.6 percent, and HBOS (HBOS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) dipped 8.9 percent.

HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Standard Chartered (STAN.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fell 8.6 and 5.3 percent, respectively, after Morgan Stanley cut its price target on the banks and gave a negative outlook for emerging market growth. [ID:nHKG27160]

Other financial stocks were also badly hit, with insurers among the heaviest losers. Prudential (PRU.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) was down 7.7 percent and Aviva (AV.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) down 5.8 percent.

Retailers were also hit as concerns mounted on the health of the economy and as the John Lewis store chain reported a drop in weekly sales. Marks & Spencer (MKS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fell 3.3 percent, while Next (NXT.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) lost 2.1 percent. (Reporting by Simon Falush, editing by Will Waterman)