Persimmon leads FTSE losses on sales warnings

The house builder fell 36.5 points, or 5.16%, to 671 after fellow developer Bovis Homes warned sales would suffer unless interest rates drop immediately and more normal conditions return to the mortgage market. Taylor Wimpey also fell 7.3 points, or 4.23%, to 165.4. Friends Provident rose 1.8 points, or 1.52%, to 119.9 following reports US private equity house JC Flowers may renew its bid for the insurer next week, while HSBC rose 10 points, or 1.32%, to 768.5. The Dow Jones fell 146.7 points, or 1.22%, to 11893.69 as Alcoa fell 1.77 points, or 4.61%, to 36.6 after an analyst lowered i...