Shares on Wall Street are rallying, up more than 300 points or 2.7% to 11534, boosted by strong retail sales at the weekend following Thanksgiving. The stronger than expected bounce on the other side of the pond has helped the FTSE, which is now up nearly 150 points, a 2.85% gain. Volumes are thin, though.
UK and European banking and insurance shares have performed well today, lifted by hopes of more action by eurozone leaders to fight debt crisis ahead of a summit next week. Barclays was also boosted by analysts at Evolution Securities reiterating their 'buy' recommendation on the stock.
Mining shares such as Vedanta Resources and Kazakhmys are also among the top risers, after Nomura published a positive research note on mining stocks.
Thomas Cook is still the biggest riser on the FTSE 250, up 17% at 20.9p. Gold miner Randgold Resources is the only FTSE 100 stock in the red, down 7.9% at £62.40.
