Unchanged interest rates came as no surprise for the market today and the FTSE 100 subsequently shrugged off the news, sinking lower as banks carried on to wreak their damage over the credit crunch.
"Without being able to quantify their losses, the situation has every chance of getting significantly worse," said David Buik at Cantor Index.
As the Dow Jones industrial average also opened lower, the UK's index of blue-chip shares was down nearly 48 points or 0.82% at 5805.7. Around 23 of the points lost were down to banks.
Retail was also in the dog house with Marks & Spencer down 2.74% at 390p and Next losing 2.07% to 1274p.
Energy companies maintained their day's lead today after John Hutton's comments on making more sites available for nuclear power stations. British Energy, Centrica, Scottish and Southern Energy and National Grid continue to lift higher on the FTSE 100 along with miners who are enjoying commodities heading ever higher.
In what is becoming a familiar tale, the housing sector continued to tank with Wolseley and Barratt seeing their shares slide.
Taylor Wimpey has had a rollercoaster ride after mixed results from -10p to up 12p and now up just over 3p to 167.8p.
Britain's largest household cleaning goods group, Reckitt Benckiser was popular, up 10p to £26.84.
After a fairly good run yesterday with the aid of soaring commodity prices, the Dow flagged this afternoon, down nearly 50 points at 12,198.95 within a short time of opening. News of a default at a mortgage lender appeared to have spooked investors.
