World markets report

This morning in the UK, home loan approvals unexpectedly dropped in December for the first time in a year, according to Bank of England figures. Hometrack, meanwhile, said that home property values rose for a sixth month running in January – but by only 0.1%.

TheFTSE 100 rose 0.8% on Friday to close at 5,189 as bank and commodity stocks bounced back from the previous day's big losses.

Banks were the largest contributor to the recovery in the index, with HSBC, Barclays, Standard Chartered and Lloyds adding between 0.9% and 2.6%. But RBS went against the trend, slipping 0.8% as talk circulated about an $8bn lawsuit from an American property developer.

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