BP Share News (BP.)

- Banks lead the risers on the Footsie.- PBOC to keep buying Eurozone debt. - Venizelos foresees bailout resolution.UK stocks were slightly higher by midday after China pledged to continue buying Eurozone bonds, easing concerns of the region's debt crisis. Banks were the best performers of the day on the FTSE 100, while updates from Sports Direct and Morgan Crucible impressed on the second-tier index.Meanwhile, Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos has said today that "very few" issues still need to be agreed on before a conference call with Eurozone finance ministers later this evening. The call follows the news that Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker was forced to cancel today's extraordinary meeting.Speaking an an exhibition in Beijing, People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said he supports the monetary measures taken by European leaders and believes that the current crisis can be solved. He also said that the Chinese central bank would up its holdings of euro-denominated assets. "At the G20, our state leaders promised European leaders that, amid the global financial crisis and the Europe sovereign debt crisis, China will not cut the proportion of euro exposure," he is reported as saying.In other news, Eurostat's flash GDP estimate for the Eurozone saw a 0.3% quarter-on-quarter contraction in the fourth quarter, slightly better than the 0.4% contraction expected by consensus. However, this is the first negative reading since the second quarter of 2009.In domestic news, the Bank of England said in its latest 'Inflation Report' that the Monetary Policy Committee's "best collective judgement" is that inflation is more likely to be below the target than above it for a good part for the forecast period (three years ahead). Simply put the central bank may be leaving the door open to tapering off or halting its asset purchase programme - or quantitative easing (QE) - after May, depending on how data evolves over the next few months.Meanwhile, the number of people claiming Jobseeker's allowance (JSA) in the UK rose by 6,900 during the month of January, to 1.6m, according to the latest data out from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The consensus estimate had been for an increase of 3,300 people. BANKS LEAD THE RISEBanks were performing well with Barclays, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Royal Bank of Scotland making decent gains. It was reported today that RBS's insurance business has been renamed Direct Line Group ahead of a possible initial public offering (IPO) that could well see the firm make it into the FTSE 100 as a standalone entity. RBS was also given a boost by AlphaValue which upgraded its rating on the lender from reduce to add, while Barclays saw its target price lifted from 275p to 300p by Citigroup. HSBC meanwhile, was in the news after it was reported that it could be expanding its branch footprint further in mainland China, according to the Financial Times.Leading the downside were drugs giants AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline and oil peers BP and Shell after the stocks went ex-dividend today.Shares of ITV were being weighed down by a downgrade from Peel Hunt. The broker said that with the shares of the broadcaster having gained steadily since mid-December, the "upside now looking limited". In other broker news, airline IAG and Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels were performing well after Credit Suisse raised its target prices for both stocks.ON THE FTSE 250...Industrial materials maker Morgan Crucible jumped after seeing record revenues and operating profit in 2011, with the group making rapid progress towards the attainment of the goals of its three-year plan announced a year ago. High street sportswear retailer Sports Direct was in demand after seeing sales growth accelerate in the third quarter and says that it will be reviewing its dividend policy as a result. Panmure Gordon maintained its buy rating on the stock this morning, calling its statement "exceptional".Pizza delivery chain Domino's Pizza was flat despite seeing full-year pre-tax profits rise 14.6% to £43.6m. This figure, however, excludes losses of £1.4m from the group's fledgling German operations.BCFTSE 100 - RisersBarclays (BARC) 242.70p +3.32%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 718.00p +3.24%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 27.50p +3.19%Essar Energy (ESSR) 130.40p +2.68%Evraz (EVR) 440.10p +2.68%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 576.40p +2.65%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 401.50p +2.50%ICAP (IAP) 374.30p +2.24%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,279.00p +2.24%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,452.00p +2.04%FTSE 100 - FallersAstraZeneca (AZN) 2,903.50p -3.78%BP (BP.) 484.25p -2.13%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,412.50p -1.91%ITV (ITV) 77.25p -1.59%Unilever (ULVR) 2,055.00p -1.20%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,339.00p -0.95%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 266.50p -0.93%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,253.00p -0.87%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,312.00p -0.84%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 693.00p -0.79%FTSE 250 - RisersSports Direct International (SPD) 284.00p +8.07%Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 350.00p +7.03%CSR (CSR) 237.70p +3.84%Micro Focus International (MCRO) 461.80p +3.61%International Personal Finance (IPF) 213.90p +3.38%Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 85.50p +3.32%Elementis (ELM) 164.40p +3.01%Perform Group (PER) 285.00p +2.96%Supergroup (SGP) 530.50p +2.81%Grainger (GRI) 106.00p +2.81%FTSE 250 - FallersCatlin Group Ltd. (CGL) 420.30p -4.56%Allied Gold Mining (ALD) 124.80p -3.26%Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) 419.00p -2.81%Computacenter (CCC) 404.00p -2.27%Beazley (BEZ) 145.30p -2.02%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 80.40p -1.95%Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 36.89p -1.60%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 331.60p -1.43%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 44.00p -1.43%Bumi (BUMI) 757.00p -1.37%