UK equities slumped on Monday amid persistent concerns over debt pressure in Spain and Greece ahead of the key meeting between European finance ministers due later in the day. Adding to the risk-aversion among investors, the Word Bank lowered its growth forecast for China for this year. The FTSE 100 index dropped 0.63% and is currently trading at 5,834.11. All but one sector within the index fell. The only gainer was oil and gas sector, with Petrofac inching up 0.06%. The worst-performers were basic materials and financials. Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Croda International slid 1.19%, 1.22% and 1.82%, respectively. Among lenders, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group tumbled 1.94%, 0.57% and 2.09%, respectively. Imperial Tobacco Group was bearish, losing 1.85% after Nomura downgraded the firm from ‘neutral' to ‘reduce'.