Banks weigh on FTSE

HBOS declined 0.21% to 972.5p after it beat expectations with a 17% rise in pre-tax profits but said bad debts also soared. The report dragged on the rest of the banking sector. Standard Chartered fell 1.92% to £13.28, Alliance & Leicester dropped 1.62% to £10.30 and Lloyds TSB declined 0.93% to 534p. Kazakhmys finished down 0.16% at £12.49, despite pushing ahead at the start. The copper miner said it was still seeing strong levels of copper extraction in the latter stages of the first half. Antofagasta also gave back gains, down 0.12% at 417.75p, despite announcing an increase in cop...