Barclays puts FTSE back on track

The high street bank has picked up 22p or 4% to 581p, after reporting a 9% increase in pre-tax profits to £2.69bn in the six months to 30 June, on the back of record results at Barclay's investment banking arm. Barclays' investment banking unit, Barclays Capital, reported a 20% increase in profit to £703m, however, bad debts within its credit card business, Barclaycard sent profits 17% lower to £379m. Fashion retailer Next, leads fallers, down 18p to 1553p, along with mining firm BHP Billiton, down 9p to 816p. After an 11% decline yesterday, Amvescap has clawed back 9.25p to 378.5p, ...