FTSE tumbles 4.6 pct as economic anxiety grows

* FTSE 100 down 4.6 percent, touches 5-1/2 yr low

* Miners, energy stocks hit by falling commodity prices

* Banks bruised by intensifying financial crisis (For more on the financial crisis, click on [nCRISIS])

By Simon Falush

LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index slid by more than 4.5 percent early on Monday, as increasing anxiety about the state of the global economy hit embattled banks and demand worries sent energy and mining stocks tumbling.

By 0900 GMT the FTSE 100 .FTSE was down 181.29 points at 3,702.64, having earlier touched a trough of 3,665.21, its lowest in 5-1/2 years.

European equity indexes fell early after Japan's Nikkei .N225 fell 6.4 percent to a 26-year closing low while Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI tumbled 12.7 percent.

Miners were among the hardest hit with metal prices falling again. Xtrata (XTA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Lonmin (LMI.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Anglo American (AAL.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) lost between 6.9 and 7.8 percent.

"The market is trying to find a bottom, there's lots of volatility, not just in the equity market but in the interest rate and currency markets too," said Neil Parker, market strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland.

HOUSE PRICES SLIDE

Also weighing on banks, English and Welsh house prices fell by 7.3 percent in the year to October, with the pace of decline accelerating to take prices back to their lowest since March 2006, property consultancy Hometrack said. [ID:nLO593234]

The banking index .FTASX8350 is down 11.4 percent this month and mired at its lowest since July 1996.

Insurers were also deep in negative territory with Aviva (AV.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) falling 8 percent. The Times said the insurer is reconsidering the terms of a planned 1 billion pound payout to with-profit policyholders. [ID:nLP620191]

JPMorgan said in a note to clients that dividend cuts within the British insurance sector were likely due to weaker equity markets.

Standard Life (SL.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fell 6.7 percent while Prudential (PRU.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) lost 3.8 percent.

London Stock Exchange (LSE.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) was among the top losers, down 9.4 percent. The Sunday Telegraph reported that the bourse has hired a recruiting firm to find a successor to its long-term chief executive, Clara Furse. [ID:nN26285765] (Reporting by Simon Falush)