Carnival ships FTSE higher

Northern Rock ended the session 2.52% higher to £12.22, closely followed by Barclays which climbed 1.94% to 760.5p, while Royal Bank of Scotland Group added 1.87% to £20.74. However cruise operator Carnival posted the biggest gains with a rise of 2.52% to £26.81, despite announcing it is to buy a new 116,000-ton ship worth around €535m, while insurer Prudential climbed 1.9% to 724.5p. However miners continued their slump with Xstrata ending as the biggest drag on the index with a fall of 5.92% to 324.17, closely followed by Vedanta Resources which slipped 5.85% to £11.58, while Antofaga...