The FTSE 100 held steady at 6,041 this morning as traders were cautious ahead of the Bank of England’s decision on interest rates.
Banking stocks flooded the leaderboard this morning, buoyed by the news that Portugal officially admitted that it will request a bailout from the European Union to tackle its debt problems. The financial aid package is expected to be between €70-80 billion with the UK reportedly set to contribute £3 billion.
Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) led the way, climbing 2 percent. Sector peers HSBC (LON:HSBA) and Barclays (LON:BARC) advanced 1 percent.
Spain has already ruled out that it will become the next euro zone country after Greece, Ireland and Portugal to request financial aid from the EU.
Shares in Cairn Energy (LON:CNE) dropped 2.1 percent after extending the deadline for the sale of a majority stake in its Indian business Cairn India to Vedanta Resources (LON:VED) to May 20 after the Indian government referred the deal to a panel of ministers. Cairn was the heaviest faller in the FTSE 100 yesterday with a 2.8 percent loss. Vedanta dropped 1.5 percent on the news.
Property investment company British Land (LON:BLND) dropped 2 percent.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose marginally to 9,591, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 6.5 points (0.2 percent) to 3,007.
A quiet start is expected on Wall Street today. Futures for the S&P 500 and NASDAQ composite indexes held steady in the morning, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose marginally.
Shares in Bed Bath and Beyond (NYSE:BBBY) jumped 9 percent in pre-market.
Citigroup (NYSE:C) declined marginally.
Traders are looking to today’s jobless claims report from the US Department of Labor, which will be released at 13:30 London time.