Hang Seng unchanged on Thursday as Singapore closes down

EUROPEAN markets dropped further yesterday chiefly on the back of rising bond yields and uncertainty over the new Italian government doing little to convince investors that the debt crisis is close to coming under control.

HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland continued to recover lost ground today as the FTSE steadied after the global moves to tackle the financial crisis.

The London market witnessed a further bout of heavy selling today as the FTSE 100 Index continued to lose sight of the 5000 barrier.