Shares in British banks were broadly down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading as retailers indicated that sales had been relatively poor in the run up to Christmas.

Retailer Next reported a fall in retail sales of 3.1 per cent from 1 August to 24 December 2010, while HMV said that it expected full year profit to be at the lower end of expectations.

By 10:15 shares in Lloyds Banking Group were down 0.15 per cent to 67.74 pence per share, RBS shares declined 1.06 per cent to 40.25 pence per share and Barclays shares fell 0.13 per cent to 272.40 pence per share.

HSBC however saw its shares rise 1.41 per cent to 677.50 pence per share.

Overall the FTSE 100 was down 0.25 per cent to 5,998.93.

Barclays HSBC FTSE