London’s leading shares index ended the week on a high note today amid hopes for a solution to the eurozone crisis and a resilient performance from the scandal-hit banking sector.
The FTSE 100 Index closed 17.9 points higher at 5,852.4 as expectations mounted for action on Europe’s debt woes after German chancellor Angela Merkel said the country would do everything it could to save the euro.
Banks buoyed the Footsie in thin trading volumes as the sector continued to shrug off the mounting Libor rigging scandal.
Barclays was the top tier’s biggest riser with a 4% gain – up 6.7p to 192.9p – despite being one of three British banks summoned for questioning in the US.
Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC, which were also issued with subpoenas earlier this week, were up 4.3p to 231.6p and 5.2p to 570p respectively.
Miners littered the fallers board, with Anglo American the biggest loser with a 47p fall to 1,927.5p.
Lonmin shares fell further in the FTSE 250, down 8.5p to 639.5p, after more than 30 miners were killed at the company’s Marikana mine in South Africa after recent clashes between police and striking miners.
Fellow second tier stock and Mecca Bingo owner Rank Group lifted 6% or 7p to 132.7p however, thanks to better-than-expected full year results and a 35% hike in its final dividend.
The biggest Footsie risers included Lloyds Banking Group up 1.2p at 34.2p, CRH up 32p at £11.51 and GKN ahead 5.4p at 226.1p.
Among the biggest Footsie fallers were Shire off 28p at £19.80 and GlaxoSmithKline off 12.5p at £14.72.
Alan MacPhee, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, noted Hunting climbed 5.25% to finish at 821p, while Weir Group gained 2.3% at £17.78 and Aberdeen Asset Management moved ahead 1.73% to 281.6p.
On the fallers board were A.G. Barr, which lost 2.72% at 453.6p, and STV Group, down 2.6% at 89p.