FTSE hits six-month high on QE3

Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's latest round of stimulus comes in the form of an open-ended package to stimulate the housing market with the purchase of $40bn of mortgage-backed securities per month. The miners and the banks led the FTSE to its six-month peak, the index reaching 5,911 by mid-morning, up 1.52%. The news also lifted stock markets across Europe to their highest level in 14 months. RBS, Barclays and Lloyds were all up over 3% as RBS announced this morning it is to launch an initial public offering of its Direct Line Insurance Group, completing one of the conditions of its £45...