Barclays boosts FTSE

Barclays gained 3.25% to £7.30 as reports of a possible bid from Bank of America continued. Royal Bank rose 1.07% to £19.75 and Lloyds TSB gained 0.91% to £5.55. Pearson increased 1.06% to £7.61 on the back of reports private equity bidders are circling the group. But the mining industry sector led the fallers after Merrill Lynch downgraded the sector to “neutral” citing concerns about a slowdown in the global economy. Antofagasta fell 4.21% to £5.17, Kazakhmys dropped 3.09% to £11.60, BHP Billiton declined 2.78% to £9.45, Rio Tinto lost 1.85% to £27.54 and Xstrata fell 3.23% to £23.3...