Financial stocks lead FTSE down

Earnings woes on Wall Street meant US indices got off to a bad start this afternoon, compounding the downward drift due to UK financial stocks and helping push the FTSE down by 112 points to close at 4,006.90. A warning from credit reference agency Standard & Poor's that it was considering downgrading UK insurers helped Royal & Sun Alliance shed 12.75p to 103p, Friends Provident shed 11p to 122.5p, and Aviva shed 39.5p to 454.5p. Amvescap shed 31p to 330.5p after analysts forecast a huge 60% drop in third quarter earnings. The fall in financial stocks also hit Reuters, ...