Banks leading declines in European markets (Reuters) (10-04-2008)

LONDON, April 10 (Reuters) - European stocks markets were 1% lower by mid-morning on Thursday as banks declined further just before the Bank of England and the European Central Bank are about to release their interest rate decisions.

According to a trader, the blame lies in the weakening dollar, the sharp rise in oil prices and a fall in U.S. index futures.

Bloomberg reported that Lehman Brothers said it had liquidated three investment funds because of "market disruptions".

At 0915 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 1.1 percent at 1,294.36 points, and the DJ Stoxx index of European banks was down 1.8 percent.

Societe Générale, Commerzbank and Credit Suisse were all down more than 2.5 percent.

Futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq SPc1 DJc1 NDc1 were down 0.2 to 0.4 percent.

 Source: Reuters