KEY POINTS:
Britain's FTSE 100 share index sank nearly 2 per cent further last night with banking group HBOS declining heavily after reporting its results.
"It's going to be a case of riding out this correction before a new level is established," said Matt Buckland, a trader at CMC Markets.
In early trading in Britain, the FTSE 100 was 116.1 points, or 1.85 per cent lower at 6,170, with all but one its stocks in negative territory. The index ended down 148.6 points in the previous session.
Among a raft of companies reporting, Britain's biggest mortgage lender HBOS dropped more than 4 per cent despite beating analysts' forecasts with a 14 per cent rise in annual underlying profit.
Other banks also extended the previous day's heavy losses, with Standard Chartered down about 4 per cent, and Barclays falling 2.6 per cent.
- REUTERS