Royal Bank of Scotland is being hit every which way at the moment, and (non-government) investors are voting with their feet.
RBS shares are down 0.945p at 32.055p making them the biggest faller in the FTSE 100. The concerns are legion. First there is the prospect of a windfall tax on bonuses being announced in tomorrow's pre-Budget report. At the same time details have emerged of the range of toxic assets owned by the bank, much of which is overseas. And then there is Dubai. The bank is one of the main creditors who attended a meeting yesterday to discuss the restructuring of Dubai World's $26bn debt. This morning the emirate's finance chief said six months would not be long enough to sort out the conglomerate, but added that it did have enough assets to meet its obligations.
Overall the market is edging higher, despite weaker than expected UK industrial production figures. The FTSE 100 is now up 9.25 points at 5319.91. But Brian Myers at odlmarkets.com said:
Investors will be asking themselves when the so-called 'Santa Rally' is due to start. The better than expected non farms hasn't really kicked the markets on, and has probably raised more questions than answers in terms of US interest rate policy. One can't help but feel that traders are searching for further clarity.
Tesco has slipped back after its sales figures, down 5.1p at 430.55p, while Rentokil Initial is 1p lower at 100p in expectation that it may be ejected from the leading index at this week's reshuffle. The final decision is due tomorrow but is based on tonight's closing prices.
