FTSE slips

Banking stocks sustained fresh losses today as the crisis of confidence in the the US mortgage market crossed the Atlantic to batter London stocks. Barclays slid to a 10-year low, while Royal Bank of Scotland and Halifax Bank of Scotland were both down by 8% as analysts worried about the sector’s need for additional capital. Having opened in positive territory, the FTSE 100 Index slipped 48.6 points to 5123.3 as the London market tested new three-year lows. Fears over the exposure of RBS’s American operations to the faltering US mortgage market meant its shares tumbled 14p to 153.3p. And the drop of 22.5p to 237.5p for HBOS took the lender further away from its 275p rights issue price. With Friday’s deadline for the bank’s £4bn (€5bn) cash call looming, underwriters look likely to pick up the tab for the... [read full story]