Barclays shares rose 3% today as chairman Marcus Agius’s decision to step down in the wake of the rate-rigging scandal was backed by investors.
The wider FTSE 100 Index rose 69.5 points or 1.2% to 5,640.6, its highest close for nearly two months, with banking shares among the biggest risers.
Barclays’ shares rose 5.6p to 168.4p after Mr Agius announced his departure, with analysts advising shareholders to snap up the stock following heavy falls last week.
Lloyds Banking Group was ahead 0.4p at 31.5p, Royal Bank of Scotland rose 3.7p to 219p and HSBC advanced 9p to 570.1p.
The improved sentiment came despite figures revealing that eurozone unemployment hit another record in May as the financial crisis pushed the continent toward the brink of recession.
In corporate news, five-a-side football pitch operator Goals Soccer Centres was ahead 7% after a second company revealed it was mulling a bid for the firm.
Goals has received an approach from Patron Capital Partners, which owns a controlling stake in rival Powerleague. Shares in the firm were 9.5p higher at 136.5p amid hopes of a bidding war with Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
The biggest Footsie risers included Aviva up 10.1p at 282.7p, Petrofac ahead 49p at £14.37 and WPP ahead 23p at 796p.
Among the biggest Footsie fallers were Admiral down 23p at £11.69, BSkyB off 9p at 687.5p, Evraz down 2.2p at 258.5p, and Vedanta Resources off 6p at 906p.
Alan MacPhee, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, noted Parkmead rising 5.77% to 13.625p, while FirstGroup finished 4.1% higher at 233.95p and Aberdeen Asset Management gained 1.93% at 264.7p.
Fallers included STV Group, down 1.09% to 90p, and Xcite Energy, which closed 0.66% lower at 75.125p.