FTSE marginally down

Chancellor George Osborne’s move to increase the levy on banks to £2.5bn (€2.95bn) this year had little impact on leading shares in the sector today.

The likes of Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, who are expected to help the government raise an additional £800m (€944m) from the balance sheet tax, moved in line with the FTSE 100 Index, which was down 6.8 points at 6044.1.