World stocks weighed down by bank concerns

World stock markets mostly fell Tuesday amid renewed concerns about the banking sector after Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland PLC got more government help and Switzerland's UBS AG booked another massive charge.

Uncertainty about a raft of key economic announcements later this week, which culminates in Friday's closely watched U.S. payrolls report for October, kept a lid on sentiment, too, though the $34 billion takeover of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. helped ease the selling pressure at the U.S. open.

In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 106.52 points, or 2.1 percent, at …