It's getting no better for the banks, especially those which have already tapped shareholders for money.
Royal Bank of Scotland, which recently announced a £12bn rights issue, has fallen another 14p to 240p, while the nil paid rights shares are 12.75p lower at 40.25p. Traders said there was uncertainty as to how much of the issue was sub-underwritten, and what would happen if the underwriters were left with stock.
HBOS, another in the queue for money, is down 21.5p to 443.75p while Bradford & Bingley</strong> - up earlier on unsubstantiated rumours of possible interest from Barclays - has lost 4.75p to 106p.
Oils are still propping up the market to some degree, with Brent crude now hitting $130 a barrel. With energy groups dominated, the FTSE 100 is up 2 points at 6193.6. But Wall Street investors seem more concerned with the inflationary impact of dearer petrol, and the Dow Jones industrial average is around 80 points lower at the moment.
