Afternoon Markets: Further writedown fears causes market falls

Financial stocks in the US and UK have been hit today amid fears banks will have further credit write...

Financial stocks in the US and UK have been hit today amid fears banks will have further credit writedowns. Overall the S&P 500 fell by around 1% and the FTSE 100 by around 2% as analysts at Goldman Sachs warned AIG and Lehman Brothers are about to write of billions of dollars in credit-related investments this quarter as the mortgage market continues to deteriorate. In the UK, HSBC fell 3.6% to its lowest level this month whilst RBS declined the most since 4 August. Barclays also decreased 4.8%. Wolseley was the biggest loser in the FTSE, dropping by over 7% followed by Hammerson and ...