FTSE sinks further

By Rebekah Curtis

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 share index sank nearly 2 percent on Wednesday amid a global market rout triggered by a sell-off in China the previous day, and with banking group HBOS declining heavily after reporting its results.

Global equity indexes fell after China's main index, the Shanghai Composite, plunged on Tuesday amid fears authorities would crack down on stock market speculation.

Across the Atlantic, Wall Street's Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced its worst slide since the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in Tuesday's session, after global economic concerns raised by China's fall were exacerbated by a disappointing U.S. durable goods orders report.

"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.

By 0850 GMT the FTSE 100 was 116.1 points, or 1.85 percent 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 percent despite beating analysts' forecasts with a 14 percent rise in annual underlying profit as it kept a tight rein on costs and bad debts came in below expectations.

Other banks also extended the previous day's heavy losses, with Standard Chartered down about 4 percent, and Barclays falling 2.6 percent.

Miners extended losses from the previous session, with Xstrata and Antofagasta losing about 4 percent, and BHP Billiton dropping 3.8 percent.