Barclays was the joint worst faller on London’s FTSE 100 share index at the close of play today as rumours continue to swirl about asset ring fencing.

The Griffin fell 2.1 per cent by market close (183.2 pence) as analysts begin to predict that the UK’s Independent Commission on Banking is likely to insist on tougher ring fencing of retail and investment banking assets despite bank protests.

Losses for the other major UK banks were negligible however with HSBC (HSBA.L) taking the worst hit, down 0.85 per cent at 547.1 by the close, ahead of RBS (RBS.L), down 0.7 per cent to 26.3 pence and Standard Chartered (STAN.L), down 0.1 per cent at 1,440.8 pence.

Lloyds (LLOY.L) was the only banking stock not to end the day in negative territory. Overall, Sage Group (SGE.L) was the next worst performer for those in the red, dropping 2.1 per cent at 252 pence.

Kingfisher (KGF.L) – the parent organisation of do-it-yourself retailer B&Q – was also hit, down 2.1 per cent at 231 pence.

At the other end of the scale, Amec (AMEC.L) was top of the pops at 949 pence, up 4.8 per cent followed by Fresnillo (FRES.L), up 4.1 per cent at 1,796 pence and Kazakhmys (KAZ.L), up 1,050, up 3.5 per cent.