Economics / Markets

Barclays, RBS and Lloyds shares have all rocketed today on news the Basel Committee plans to water down its capital and liquidity reform package.

Banks pushed the FTSE higher by 0.55% to 5380.35 on news the Basel Committee proposed to water down its capital and liquidity reform package.

Richard Marwood, senior portfolio manager at Axa Investment Managers, examines where to invest in order to hedge against inflation.

The FTSE 100 opened higher, up 0.46% or 24.52 points to 5,337.14, on encouraging news from the oil sector.

The American economy is not headed for a double dip recession and is likely to gradually strengthen over the coming year, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner believes.

The UK's four major banks have passed EU stress tests, although five Spanish banks failed, the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) said.

UK GDP increased by a surprise 1.1% in the second quarter, almost double the consensus estimate.

The FTSE was down in early morning trading by 21.35 points (0.40%) at 5292.46, as markets remain cautious awaiting the latest UK GDP reading - due at 9:30am - and EU bank stress test results due after close of business today.

Several of Spain's 18 savings banks have failed tests to see how they would cope with worsened economic conditions, according to reports.

Banks led the FTSE 2% higher in late trading on Thursday as positive economic news from the Eurozone eased fears of a double-dip recession.