Morning Markets: Banks drive FTSE up 0.5%

Banks are pushing the FSTE 100 higher this morning with the index up 21.43 points or 0.49% to 4352.80...

Banks are pushing the FSTE 100 higher this morning with the index up 21.43 points or 0.49% to 4352.80 by 10:07am. Royal Bank of Scotland is up 7.37% to 40.80p despite seeing its shares slide over the past two days. The bank had been downgraded by a Credit Suisse analyst who raised concerns the bank would need to repay £400bn of funding within a year. Other banks which have seen a positive start to the day are Barclays up 5.66% to £2.57, Standard Chartered up 4.88% to £11.61 and Lloyds Banking Group are up 4.73% to 88.60p. Engineering firm Invensys is also up this morning supported by ...