Afternoon Markets: Banks fall as Obama plans reverberate

The major UK banks are falling as the market absorbs the wider implications of Barack Obama's plans to keep US banks on a tighter leash.

Fund managers say UK-based banks Barclays, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Royal Bank of Scotland, with investment banking exposure to the US, are under the greatest threat from Obama's proposals. These include curbing inhouse trading and barring investing in or managing hedge and private equity funds. Barclays is trading at £2.66, or 6.0% down; HSBC at £6.64 is 1.7% below; Standard Chartered's £14.20 asking price is 1.0% off; and RBS at £33.84 is 4.2% down. Banks have been a drag on the FTSE which was down 1% to 5286.56 in mid-afternoon trading. In the US the Dow Jones Industrial Ave...