Shares in British banks were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading as investors appeared to feel nervy ahead of third quarter results from key US companies this week.

Intel is due to release its Q3 data today, followed by JPMorgan Chase tomorrow, Google on Thursday and General Electric on Friday.

British economic data is also to be released this week, with inflation figures due today and unemployment statistics to be released tomorrow.

By 10:05 shares in Lloyds Banking Group were down 1.46 per cent to 72.72 pence per share, RBS shares declined 1.77 per cent to 46.66 pence per share, Barclays shares fell 1.56 per cent to 293.65 pence per share and HSBC shares dropped 1.03 per cent to 655.10 pence per share.

Overall the FTSE 100 was down 1.19 per cent to 5,604.81.

Unemployment Barclays HSBC FTSE