Banks lose on FTSE 100

Banks are among the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 today, amid continued concern about the state of the financial markets.

The index was down 157.23 points at the close today, following on from falls of 139 points recorded at 15:00 GMT.

HSBC was one of the biggest losers among lenders on the index, falling by 45.75 points to close at 689.75.

Continued speculation surrounding the HBOS takeover wiped 8.50 points off its value today, closing at 99.20 points.

Standard Charter also fell by 3.63 per cent, losing 32.50 points.

Commenting on the losses across the banking sector earlier in the day, Ben Timms of Blue Index told Reuters: "Negativity from yesterday is continuing to feed through after the late US sell-off on earnings concerns and with Circuit City filing for bankruptcy protection."

All listed banks on the FTSE 100 fell, with Barclays'' suffering the smallest percentage loss of 2.81 per cent or 5.20 points.