Barclays plunges as much as 18% after Osborne speech

Barclays' share price plummeted 18% early this afternoon amid calls for boss Bob Diamond to quit in the wake of the LIBOR scandal, and following a speech from George Osborne attacking its traders 'systematic greed'.

The bank was fined £290m by UK and US regulators yesterday for breaching LIBOR rules, after being found to have illegally influenced the rates which banks borrow from each other. While Barclays' shares held up yesterday, an early rise this morning was quickly reversed as political pressure grew. Osborne's speech saw Barclays' share price extend losses as much as 18%, before a bounce saw shares standing down 11.6% at 173.6p at 1:15pm. Other banks are also under pressure, with RBS down 11% at 207p, while Lloyds has fallen 6.4% to 29.15p. The FTSE 100 fell 1.3% to 5,452. Osborne at...