Markets: banks drive FTSE 100 higher

• FTSE 100 up 0.6% to 6,395
• Gold up 0.42% to 1,069.29/oz
• £/$ - 1.5082

FTSE 100

Banks were among the best performers, after they all passed the Bank of England's latest round of stress testing. Barclays was the day's highest climber, up 4.9%; RBS added 3.2%, despite being named as one of the weakest banks, and Lloyds gained 2.4%.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.9% to 4,914, and the German Xetra Dax lost 1.1% to 11,261.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1% to 17,888, the S&P 500 added 1.1% to 2,102, and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.1% higher at 5,156.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.4% to 19,938, and the broader Topix index added one point to 1,602. And in China, the CSI 300 rose 3.6% to 3,721, and the Shanghai Composite was 2.3% higher at 3,536.

Brent spot was trading at $44.31 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $41.64. Spot gold was trading at $1,068 an ounce, silver was at $14.15 and platinum was at $838.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5067 and against the euro at 1.4186. The dollar was trading at 0.9415 against the euro and 123.13 against the Japanese yen.

And in today, Greene King reported a big rise in profits, boosted by its acquisition of Spirit Inns. Pre-tax profits in the six months to 18 October at the brewer and pubco rose by 17.9% to £72m. Without the contribution from Spirit, profits rose by 5.9%.