"Unjustified" bank prices drive FTSE down

UK banks are leading the decline again on the UK's main stockmarket index this morning after Merrill lynch cut its recommendation for share sales from "neutral" to "overweight" and said recent share price gains were not justified given the outlook for earnings. Shares in Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland Group have fallen by at least 2% because shares gained "too far too fast" according to Nick Watkins, analyst at Merrill, who has watched the FTSE All-Share Banks Index climb 28% since last month's terrorist attacks in the US. HBOS, the newly merged Halifax and Bank of Scotland, fell...