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FTSE 100 holds steady as ICB report lifts banks

Published: 21:30 11 Apr 2011 AEST

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The FTSE 100 held steady at 6,056 in the morning, held back by yet another earthquake in Japan that hit the country today.

Banking stocks were doing very well following the release of a report from the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB). The commission said that Lloyds (LON:LLOY) should divest of more branches to improve competition in the market and suggested that retail banks should be ring fenced. Barclays (LON:BARC) was the top riser in the FTSE 100, rallying 3.2 percent on the news. Sector peer Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) followed with a 2.4 percent gain. Fellow part-nationalised bank Lloyds tacked on nearly 1 percent.

Engineering company GKN (LON:GKN) advanced 2 percent after reporting that sales in the first quarter rose 14 percent to £1.49 billion and pre-tax profits soared 51 percent to £107 million.

The world’s largest miner BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) added 2.2 percent after completing a US$6.3 billion buyback of 4.4 percent of its shares. Fellow mining major Xstrata (LON:XTA) climbed 1.5 percent.

Fashion house Burberry (LON:BRBY) slipped 2 percent after Japan was rocked by another massive earthquake, which triggered tsunami warnings.

Financial bookmakers are expecting a higher open on Wall Street today. Futures for the Dow Jones and S&P 500 indexes rose 3.6 points (0.3 percent) and 34 points (0.3) respectively. The technology heavy NASDAQ composite was up 9.5 points (0.4 percent).

Shares in Tyco International (NYSE:TYC) soared 10.5 percent in pre-market.

PPL Corp (NYSE:PPL)
declined 1.3 percent.

In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 48 points (0.5 percent), dropping to 9,719, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 7 points (0.25 percent) to close at 3,022.

No major macroeconomic updates are scheduled for today.

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