Bt ShareCast News (BT.A)

London's top-share index peaked at 5,523 shortly after 10:00 and even fell into the red in the afternoon session just after 15:00 before rallying to close with a modest gain.

The fast start was prompted by two things, both relating to banks.

The first was reports that central banks stand ready to provide liquidity next week if the financial system freezes up in the wake of Sunday's general election in Greece, which could very well lead to another hung parliament.

The second was plans by the British government and the Bank of England to give banks a hand in the hope they will reciprocate by lending more freely to UK banks.

Banks say thanks

Banks reacted positively to the initiatives from the the UK government and the Bank of England to help banks grease the wheels of British commerce.

Chancellor George Osborne said the plan, which reports have valued at between £80bn - £140bn, showed the UK was "not powerless in the face of the eurozone debt storm".

A second scheme, called Extended Collateral Term Repo (ECTR) Facility, will give banks access to short-term money to manage "exceptional market stresses". This scheme will see the Bank of England allocating a minimum of £5bn every month to banks in the form of six month loans.

The news sent investors scurrying off to load up on shares in banks, especially Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking and Barclays.

Under-powering

Temporary power and temperature control specialist Aggreko was the worst performing blue-chip. The highly rated company's first half numbers indicated that revenue growth slowed down in the second quarter.

Also getting chopped down inside the box were pay TV operators BSkyB and BT in the wake of the eye-watering sums paid by both to the Football Association for the rights to televise live matches from the Premiership.

Musical chairs

Doing the board room shuffle today were accountancy software titan Sage and troubled specialist engineering services provider Lamprell.

Sage's Chairman, Tony Hobson, has decided it is time to give up the chair to make way for Donald Brydon, currently chairman of medical devices maker Smiths Industries. Brydon will join Sage's board as a non-executive director on July 6th to get his feet wet prior to taking over from Hobson at the beginning of September.

Lamprell, meanwhile, has moved quickly to replace Jonathan Silver, who announced earlier this month his intention to give up the Chairman role to become Deputy Chairman. The new guv'nor is industry veteran John Kennedy who, until US conglomerate General Electric took it over, was Chairman of Wellstream Holdings.

Pickled onions in soy sauce

Struggling Premier Foods said it is selling its vinegar and soured pickles business for £41m. The business, which includes the Sarson's, Haywards and Dufrais brands, will go to Japanese firm Mizkan and the deal is expected to complete by the end of July.

While an Asian company prepares to get pickled on a typically British delicacy, UK drinks giant Diageo has raised its stake in Vietnam's Hanoi Liquor, the country's leading vodka supplier. The company has spent £14m, taking its ownership of Hanoi, Vietnam's leading domestic branded spirits producer, up to 45.5%.

Hand-held computing device pioneer Psion is selling out to US telecoms colossus Motorola Solutions. Motorola Solutions is making an agreed offer of 88p in cash for each Psion share in a deal which values the British mobile computing services company at around £129m. Though shareholders are unlikely to grumble at an exit price that is some 45% higher than last night's closing price in some way's it is a sad end for a British company that was king of the hand-held computer gizmo market in the wrong era.

Elsewhere in the small caps space United Carpets took a beating as it issued a profits warning. The floor-coverings seller revealed it has had to terminate numerous franchise agreements this year as the sluggish housing market makes life difficult for rug sellers.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 247.60p +7.93%

Polymetal International (POLY) 887.50p +7.32%

Vedanta Resources (VED) 960.00p +6.31%

Evraz (EVR) 270.80p +5.91%

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,532.00p +5.51%

Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 412.20p +5.48%

Man Group (EMG) 72.80p +5.28%

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 31.30p +5.21%

ICAP (IAP) 365.50p +4.43%

Barclays (BARC) 200.80p +4.18%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Aggreko (AGK) 2,066.00p -4.35%

Ashmore Group (ASHM) 331.00p -4.06%

Severn Trent (SVT) 1,736.00p -3.34%

ARM Holdings (ARM) 486.70p -3.05%

United Utilities Group (UU.) 663.00p -2.57%

Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,558.00p -2.03%

SSE (SSE) 1,364.00p -1.87%

Compass Group (CPG) 624.50p -1.81%

Bunzl (BNZL) 1,017.00p -1.74%

Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,385.00p -1.60%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Lamprell (LAM) 95.00p +20.18%

SIG (SHI) 97.55p +14.90%

Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 499.50p +14.49%

Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 431.80p +12.59%

Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 167.20p +11.84%

Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 463.60p +11.18%

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 202.30p +10.97%

New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 332.30p +10.36%

Bumi (BUMI) 344.80p +10.34%

Regus (RGU) 97.50p +9.55%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Kentz Corporation Ltd. (KENZ) 328.00p -6.69%

Mitie Group (MTO) 263.20p -6.67%

QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 145.40p -6.43%

Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 115.50p -6.25%

Filtrona PLC (FLTR) 439.60p -5.73%

PayPoint (PAY) 698.50p -5.61%

De La Rue (DLAR) 968.50p -5.05%

Dunelm Group (DNLM) 454.80p -4.87%

Genus (GNS) 1,195.00p -4.70%

Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 72.00p -3.61%

FTSE TechMARK - Risers

Psion (PON) 87.75p +45.04%

Emblaze Ltd. (BLZ) 52.00p +6.12%

Kofax (KFX) 261.25p +5.98%

Consort Medical (CSRT) 635.00p +5.75%

Vectura Group (VEC) 69.50p +4.12%

RM (RM.) 80.00p +3.56%

FTSE TechMARK - Fallers

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 2.30p -11.54%

Optos (OPTS) 168.50p -9.16%

Phoenix IT Group (PNX) 170.75p -5.40%

DRS Data & Research Services (DRS) 21.75p -3.33%

Parity Group (PTY) 23.25p -3.12%

Xaar (XAR) 192.00p -3.03%



JH