Global stocks slide on US bank strife

London’s blue-chip index is currently 70.70 points (1.33%) behind to 5229.70. Royal Bank of Scotland is leading the banking sector’s losses so far, down 5.06% to 170.90. Standard Chartered, a stock which has escaped much of the recent dramas, has hit a 52-week low – sliding 4.79% to 1313. Rumours it will not bid for Alliance & Leicester has impacted Lloyds TSB, down 3.99% to 271. The morning’s largest loss belongs to media giant Thompson Reuters, 5.38% behind to 1178. Energy stocks seem immune to the early hardship, with British Energy and Scottish & Southern Energy up 2.2% to 721.5...