Windfall tax reports drag FTSE 100 down

The FTSE 100 was down in early trading, losing 35.48 points by 09:50 GMT, as banking shares suffered on reports of a windfall tax in this week's pre-Budget report.

Britain's top share index was down 0.67 per cent, after finishing up 0.18 per cent at market close on Friday in London.

British banks suffered on possible windfall tax concerns, with Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and RBS all losing out in early trading.

Metal prices falling impacted the mining sector, with Eurasian Natural Resources, Vedanta Resources and Xstrata down between 1.08 and 3.58 per cent respectively in early trading.

Royal Dutch Shell, Autonomy Corporation, Carnival, Imperial Tobacco Group and Admiral Group were all up between 0.32 per cent and 0.88 per cent on Monday morning.