The FTSE100 surged on opening this morning on the back of a large bank-led market rally in the US overnight. London's blue-chip index is currently 82.80 points (1.61%) higher to 5233.40.
Whitbread leads a host of hotel and pub groups higher, 8.75% ahead to 1094. News it snared DSG's finance director Kevin O'Byrne has propelled retailer Kingfisher, 6.45% higher to 102.30. Banks are expectedly among the strong gains; with Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays leading the charge, up 5.94% to 174.80 and 5.62% to 281.75 respectively. Pharmaceutical group Shire leads the losses so far, down 2.35% to 727.50. In New York, Wall Street soared on Wednesday as the banking sector finally found some reason to cheer and lower oil prices boosted investor confidence. The Dow Jones IA close...
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