Barclays up 66% after outlining financial strength

The financials sector is sharply higher on the positive sentiment, helping the FTSE 100 climb 41 points, or 1%, to 4,094 so far. As of 11.30am Barclays had advanced more than 32p, or 66%, to 84p. In the joint letter, chairman Marcus Agius and chief executive John Varley said Barclays had £36bn of committed equity capital and reserves and will report a profit before tax for the year well ahead of the consensus estimate of £5.3bn. Earlier on Monday, Lloyds Banking Group and RBS were also ahead, by 17.24% to 57.80 and 12.4% to 13.60 respectively. Insures were also higher. Old Mutual had ...