Abbey National brings a positive vibe

There is a much more positive note in the air of the global stock markets this morning. Bank stock prices are surging again thanks to Abbey National after the firm declared there was "no significant deterioration in credit quality" even though lending has been increased by half. The UK's benchmark index, the FTSE 100, rose 65 points or 1.3% to 5135.4 at the open, largely because Abbey National has announced pretax profits is "comfortably ahead" of last year. Abbey has been trying to move away from home loans into wholesale banking such as insurance and SMEs. As a result of the strong ...