The London market closed ahead today as investors took the loss of France’s gold-plated AAA credit rating and speculation over Greece’s future in the eurozone in their stride.
The FTSE 100 Index closed 20.8 points higher at 5,657.4 despite fresh speculation that Greece is on the brink of leaving the single currency because it will not have enough funds for a £12billion bond that has to be repaid on March 20.
Banks were under pressure, with Barclays down 2.1p at 199.1p and Lloyds Banking Group off 0.04p at 29.4p.
However, Royal Bank of Scotland continued its recent rally, sparked by a positive reaction to its restructuring plans, rising 0.3p to 24.4p.
Much of the attention of investors was focused on cruise ship company Carnival after the disaster involving the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy.
Carnival said the grounded vessel would be out of service until at the least the end of its financial year to November 30, costing it between £55million and £62million this year.
It said it was too early to calculate other costs but shares slumped 16%, or £3.70 to £18.78, adding to the fall of 30% since the start of 2011.
Scottish dairy company Robert Wiseman jumped 18% after its board backed a £280million takeover offer from German-owned yoghurt maker Muller Dairy.
Shares were up 59.5p to 387.5p after gains of 34% on Friday, when Wiseman admitted it was in talks with Muller.
Publishing firm Bloomsbury saw its shares climb 2p higher to 99p after it reported a strong Christmas quarter.
The update helped boost Penguin owner Pearson, which finished close to the top of the FTSE 100 Index risers’ board after an improvement of 3%, or 33p to £12.50.
David Barclay, of investment manager and financial-planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, noted SSE down 5p to £12.46, Wood Group off 2.5p at £6.61, Weir Group falling 12p to £20.98 and Cairn Energy dipping slightly to £2.91.