UK and European banks soar on eurozone deal

UK banking stocks drove this morning's FTSE 100 rally, with Barclays, RBS and Lloyds all surging roughly 6% on the news a eurozone debt deal has been reached.

Under the deal, banks must raise around 106bn euros in new capital by June 2012 to protect them against losses resulting from any future government defaults. However, certainty around the level of the capitalisation boosted banks' share prices today. The FTSE 100 rallied by around 2% soon after opening this morning to 5,676.45 with the bulk of the recovery stemming from the UK's major banks. Barclays climbed 6.72% to reach 190.6p per share, while Royal Bank of Scotland gained 5.73% to 26.2p per share. Lloyds climbed 5.11% to 36p. Miners were also boosted by the eurozone optimism, w...