HSBC takes FTSE lower

HSBC has fallen 1.5% to 929p and Anglo American has dropped 4.8% to 1,940p. BP has also slipped 0.5% to 620p. Meanwhile, lender Alliance & Leicester has leapt 6.91% to 1,192p after French peer Credit Agricole said it was assessing a possible bid for the UK bank but added it had yet to make a proposal. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 stock average slumped 297.58 points, or 1.8%, to 15,857.87 points as commodity prices dropped and China said it will curb lending to rein in fixed-asset investment. Mitsubishi, Japan's biggest trading company, fell 110 yen, or 4.4%, to 2,375 and Mitsui, the sec...