US Bank drives the FTSE down March 16th, 2008
The FTSE 100 closed on Friday at 5,631.7, down 60.7 points (1.1%) amid news the US’s fifth largest bank, Bear Stearns, was in trouble and had sought emergency funding from the Federal Reserve. Unlike with the Northern Rock debacle the Americans have acted fast to try and stop a major bank collapsing. However, the funding to prop up Bear Stearns is only for an initial period of 28 days.
Not surprisingly the UK Banks bore the brunt of the losses with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) falling 8.5 points (2.48%) to 333.75p and Barclays (BARC.L) falling 17.75p (3.94%) to 433p. The biggest loser was HBOS (HBOS.L) , tumbling a significant 34p (6.05%) to 528p. Although this is also due to speculation of further writedowns at the Bank.
The FTSE 250 reflected the fortunes of the FTSE 100, losing 1% to 9,706.1.
