LONDON (AFP) – London's main stock market slid at the start of trading on Tuesday, when many investors took profits from recent gains sparked by strong banking results and better-than-expected US data.
The FTSE 100 index of leading shares fell 0.42 percent to 5,374.36 points in early afternoon deals.
Shares had surged on Monday after HSBC announced its net profits had doubled to 6.76 billion dollars (5.17 billion euros) in the first half of 2010.
"After the strong gains on Monday, a small sell-off in early trading has not concerned investors too much," said Yusuf Heusen, senior sales trader at financial spread-betting firm IG Index.
"There still seems to be an appetite for buying out there after the Dow Jones Index hit a two month high overnight," he added.