Blue-chips head south as fears mount The feeling of apprehension that has gripped markets ever since President Obama's re-election showed no signs of abating. The FTSE 100 ended the day down 72.16 points at 5,605.59, the lowest level since July. Unnerved by looming US tax rises and spending cuts, the now familiar "fiscal cliff," as well as Europe's debt woes and violence in the Middle East, investors sent London's benchmark index down 2.8pc over the week, the heaviest weekly fall since May. Poor industrial data from the US did not help sentiment today either. "We're trading on fear at the moment," was one dealer's gloomy assessment. The good news is very limited. Among the blue-chips, engineering turnaround group Melrose, which made its debut on the FTSE 100 in September, worried investors by cautioning that next year's sales outlook is now "more uncertain." The shares tumbled 27.1 to 208.9p. Others in the sector were doing better. IMI, which develops fluid control technologies, rose 16 to 958p and topped the FTSE 100 after confirming that trading during the second-half of the year is meeting expectations. Fellow engineer Bodycote posted revenue growth of 2.9pc for the four months to the end of October and the shares responded by advancing 13.7 to 376.4p. Outsourcing group Serco rose after saying it had secured £1.4bn of contracts so far during the second-half of the year. That means the group has signed contracts worth £5.4bn since the start of 2012. The shares put on 5½ to 550p. Meanwhile, dealers noted a large trade in Smiths Group, which releases a market update on Tuesday. The shares dipped 21p to £10.18. A downbeat appraisal of FTSE 250 fashion retailer SuperGroup from Numis saw the shares drop 51½ to 638½p. The stock has bounced back from a record low of 264½p in June amid improving investor confidence, but analyst Andrew Wade argued there is "room for doubt in the recovery story." He forecast that underlying UK like-for-like second quarter sales may have declined by about 5pc and cut his recommendation to "sell" from "hold." Siberian oil and gas group RusPetro brought up the rear on the FTSE 250 - 106.52 points lower at 11,576.98 - as investors pushed the shares down 7.2 to 88p ahead of a market update on Monday.