Banks and oils lead FTSE down 1.5 pct (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) - The top share index fell 1.5 percent by midday on Wednesday, touching a three-year low, as Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: 91ID.L - news ) and HBOS led banks lower on deepening concerns over the sector. By 11:22 a.m., the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> was down 75.8 points at 5,096.1 after trading as much as 0.7 percent higher earlier in the session. European shares also traded lower. The benchmark index fell 2.4 percent on Tuesday to hit its lowest close since October 2005. It has lost 21 percent so far this year. "People are looking ahead as to what writedowns they are going to see from JPMorgan and Citi when they come out in the next few days and so on. People are just generally concerned," said Stephen Pope, chief global market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald Europe. "Until they start to... [read full story]