Banks take a battering as FTSE falls

Monday, 02 June 2008 12:00

The banking sector took a hit this morning after Bradford & Bingley revealed its woes, taking the FTSE down almost one per cent.

At 9:45 BST the FTSE 100 stood at 5993.80 - down 59.70 and below the psychologically important 6000 level.

In the top 100 firms, HBOS fell 8.5 per cent, Alliance & Leicester was down 7.23 per cent, Lloyds TSB was down 3.45 per cent, and Barclays dropped 3.20 per cent.

Bradford & Bingley meanwhile was down 16.15 per cent - or 14.25p - to 74p. This compares with a year high of 435.50p recorded a year ago.

Banking saw further strain as figures from the Bank of England confirmed a record low for mortgage approvals.

As banking fell, the miners returned to seeing gains - after being in the doldrums for the last week.

BHP Billiton rose 2.04 per cent, Rio Tinto was up 1.64 per cent, Anglo American increased by 1.14 per cent, and Xstrata was up 0.90 per cent.

However, the strongest gains were recorded for investment management firm Schroders, after it was revealed the firm was pushing for a change at the top of RBS after it was displeased about the recent rights issue.

• Tags:
• news
,
• share prices