FTSE 100 movers: Miners leap on Greek deal optimism

20th Feb 2012 14:33

Mining stocks and banks performed well in the morning session, buoyed by Greek optimism and the People´s Bank of China's decision to cut its legal reserve ratio requirement for large banks by half a percentage point, announced late on Friday. Mining stalwarts Kazakhmys, Eurasian Natural Resources Corp, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were leading the gainers on the Footsie, all rising at least 3% each by midday. Part-nationalised lenders Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds were also on the rise. It has been widely reported that five directors of Lloyds, including the previous Chief Executive, will be forced to pay back some of their 2010 bonus. Lloyds has had to set aside £3.2bn to cover claims arising from the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI), it's those losses which have prompted the so called "claw back" exercise. Meanwhile, defensives were firmly out of favour as investors shifted positions into relatively riskier assets. Utilities Severn Trent, United Utilities and National Grid were down, joined by pharma giants Shire and AstraZeneca. FTSE 100 - RisersWeir Group (WEIR) 2,187.00p +6.63%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 729.50p +3.70%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,357.00p +3.43%Aviva (AV.) 382.30p +3.32%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 28.49p +3.22%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 36.59p +3.20%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,608.00p +2.68%IMI (IMI) 985.50p +2.66%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 484.40p +2.65%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,717.50p +2.64%FTSE 100 - FallersSevern Trent (SVT) 1,521.00p -1.93%United Utilities Group (UU.) 600.00p -1.40%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 698.50p -1.27%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,491.00p -1.11%Shire Plc (SHP) 2,261.00p -0.75%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,219.00p -0.57%National Grid (NG.) 642.00p -0.47%Diageo (DGE) 1,492.00p -0.43%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,408.00p -0.42%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 296.10p -0.40%NR