Shares in British banks were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading following earlier gains this week.

On Tuesdays Barclays reported a strong rise in pre-tax profit. Next week RBS and Lloyds Banking Group will be reporting their results, which are expected to be positive.

The news helped boost banking shares this week, however today they started to decline again.

By 10:05 shares in Lloyds Banking Group were down 0.28 per cent to 68.98 pence per share, RBS shares declined 0.88 per cent to 48.57, Barclays shares fell 0.57 per cent to 331.65 and HSBC shares dropped 0.86 per cent to 724.60 pence per share.

Overall the FTSE 100 was down 0.40 per cent to 6,062.71.

Barclays HSBC FTSE