Banks rose by an average 4.98% on Thursday as euro optimism lifted sentiment across global markets.Barclays jumped 10%, closely following by Lloyds and RBS, with the buying mood bolstered by several different factors, including: better-than-expected results from Bank of America; talks of progress between Greek government and private creditors; strong demand in Spanish and French auctions. Meanwhile, tobacco stocks were on the decline after Nomura downgraded its view on the sector from bullish to neutral.The broker has reduced its 2012 earnings estimates for Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco, causing both stocks to fall on Thursday.For the three months ended December 31st, Nomura expects Imperial's stock equivalent volumes to fall 4%, driven by further negative volumes in Western European markets.As for British American, adjusted reflect updated foreign exchange movements and slightly more conservative margin estimates. Top performing sectors so far todayBanks 3,761.22 +4.98%Automobiles & Parts 4,998.78 +4.45%Industrial Metals & Mining 4,976.99 +4.07%Real Estate Investment Trusts 1,857.67 +3.52%Construction & Materials 3,632.27 +2.74%Bottom performing sectors so far todayTobacco 33,038.06 -2.08%Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 9,982.15 -2.05%Media 4,100.95 -1.01%Gas, Water & Multiutilities 4,569.19 -0.86%Beverages 10,337.44 -0.83%