The Market Oracle- The Halifax (HBOS), Britain’s biggest Mortgage bank shares crashed by 20% on the opening this morning as suspected hedge fund forced short selling drove the stock price sharply lower to £3.98. This was accompanied by rumours that the bank had to seek emergency funding from the Bank of England and that the central banks staff leave had been cancelled to deal with the crisis.
The Bank of England and the FSA took the unprecedented step of issuing statements that categorically denied the rumours. The FSA went further that it had launched an investigation into the trading activity surrounding HBOS and other banks this morning and accused traders of ‘market abuse by spreading false rumours to profit from short-selling.
HBOS and other banking stocks shares rallied strongly on the denial of the rumours and FSA investigation, recouping most of the earlier losses with HBOS down 4% on the day at 2pm GMT. The Halifax is britain’s top 5 biggest bank, whilst having a sizeable mortgage book, it is not seen at being at any serious risk of following Northern Rock Bank given its large depositor base and relatively strong balance sheet, unlike many other mortgage banks which are in a more precarious position.
