Bank shares punished as JPM losses hit sector

UK banking shares dragged the FTSE 100 lower this morning as sentiment struggled following J.P. Morgan's revelation that it lost $2bn in a trade which went awry.

In a call with analysts, J. P. Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon said the loss on its proprietary trading desk was linked to reports about a trader, nicknamed the 'London Whale', who reportedly amassed an outsized position hedge funds were betting against. The call preceded a sharp sell-off in the investment giant's shares in after-hours trading, with the stock down 6.73%. In the UK, the news hit the banking sector, with shares in all five major banks lower. Barclays was down 2.7%, at 203.15p, while HSBC shed 1.2% to 549.8p. RBS dropped 1.6% to 22.68p, while Lloyds fell 1.3% to...