The banking sector dragged the London market into the red in the closing auction yesterday as stress tests revealed the full scale of the Irish bank bailout. Four banks need an extra Euros24 billion (GBP21.2bn) to survive the financial crisis, taking the final bill for the Irish bailout to an eyewatering Euros70bn. The figures saw the FTSE 100, which had managed to stay ahead for most of the session, close 39.54 points or 0.7 per cent lower at 5,908.76. Markets across Europe were also down on the news. Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets, said: "We saw equity markets suddenly slide very rapidly towards the close with the banking sector slipping back quite considerably. What we saw in the closing auction is an early indication of what the market thinks of it." HSBC led falls, down 2 per cent or 15p to 641p, while Barclays was down 6.2p to 277.5p. Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, which are both heavily exposed to the Irish economy, were down 0.4p at 58p and 0.3p at 40.79p respectively. High inflation in the eurozone saw the single currency strengthen on the prospect of an interest rate hike at the European Central Bank. The pound was consequen