RBS drags down FTSE 100

The FTSE 100 slid into the red again to close at 4,108.47 as a dive in Royal Bank of Scotland shares dragged the index down.

More government help and the warning losses could hit £28 billion for 2008 was enough to send shares in RBS 64 per cent lower to close at 12.40p.

The shares are now 96 per cent lower than their peak in May 2007.

Lloyds TSB shares were also sharply lower, falling by 30.8 per cent over the day to 68.1p, while HBOS shares fell by 13.46 per cent.

The crisis of confidence among investors in the banking sector has led the FTSE 100 over 400 points lower since the beginning of the year.

Several banks are expected to publish earnings figures for 2008 and there are concerns their balance sheets will be worse than previously feared.

Ryan Kneale, market analyst at www.BetsForTraders.com, said: "We expect the markets to remain highly volatile over the next few weeks and we believe we haven't seen the last of the big losses."

However, several stocks were still climbing today on the blue-chip index, including Sage Group, which rose by 4.83 per cent and publisher Pearson, which was up by 4.52 per cent.