Morning markets: FTSE slides on profit taking

Profit taking saw the FTSE 100 fall 1.3% to 5316.22 points this morning, negating some of its 5.2% rise on Monday.

Banks, which made sizeable gains on Monday, were among the fallers today as traders took quick profits. By 8.45am, Royal Bank of Scotland, which rose 10.4% yesterday, was 4.2% off at 49.5p. Miners also fell after China's inflation rate hit 2.8% in April year on year, an 18-month high, and its property prices jumped 12.8%, fuelling concerns of Beijing tightening. Xstrata was down 3.9% at £10.50, Kazakhmys fell 2.8% to £12.88 and Rio Tinto was 3.2% lower at £32.59. Among the risers, Aviva rose 0.4% to 340.2p after revenue from first quarter sales of life insurance and pensions fel...