FTSE approaching 20% decline for the year

After a brief rally in early trading, the index suffered heavily in mid-morning as Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group plunged 7.5%. Barclays fell as Japan-based Nomura Inc recommended investors short its shares. However, Xstrata dominates the loser's table after falling almost 50%. The mining group yesterday saw shareholders approve its £4.1bn rights issue only to then face a protest vote against its $2bn acquisition of Colombian coal assets from Glencore, its biggest shareholder. As of shortly before midday, the FTSE was more than 63 points down, or 1.76%, to 3,562. The decline contin...