Banks were leading the way on Friday with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) topping the charts, lifting the Footsie above the 5,700 level. Hopes that the sovereign debt crisis in Europe is easing lifted the mood on the markets, with investors looking ahead to a key Italian debt auction later today. Just five stocks on London's blue chip index were in the red early on. However, Invensys plummeted on the FTSE 250 after a profit warning.The Italian and Spanish debt auctions provided a bit of a spark on Thursday after both nations saw solid demand and a fall in yields. However, with Fitch's head of sovereign ratings David Riley saying yesterday that there is a "material risk" of a downgrade to Italy's credit rating by the end of January, eyes are now on the country's debt sale today, in which the nation is planning to sell bonds due in 2014 and 2018.Yesterday was a busy day on the economic front with both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank (ECB) keeping hold of interest rates. ECB President Mario Draghi announced that the decision to maintain rates was unanimous, suggesting that there were some signs of stabilisation in the single-currency area.BANKS RISE, INVENSYS PLUMMETS AFTER PROFIT WARNINGRBS rose strongly, extending gains from yesterday after it revealed a massive shake-up to its investment banking and wholesale businesses, including a mass employment reduction of 3,500. Sector peers Barclays and Lloyds were also in demand.The big news on the corporate front today was on the FTSE 250 with engineering and software group Invensys issuing a profit warning. The company said that a number of operational issues relating to certain projects within Invensys Operations Management and Invensys Rail will put a dent in operating profits. Shares dropped 19%.Leading the mid-cap index was instrumentation and controls company Spectris which notched up record sales and operating profit in 2011, helped by useful contributions from recent acquisitions. Balfour Beatty and WS Atkins rose after securing contracts with Network Rail.A drilling update from Caspian Sea-focused oil and gas giant Dragon Oil has revealed the "great potential" of the Dzheitune field on the Cheleken Contract Area, offshore Turkmenistan, the firm said. Fashion brand Ted Baker said it had a very good Christmas trading period despite, as usual, not embarking on any significant promotional activity. Shares rose 5%.Non-woven industrial materials group Fiberweb dropped after its 2011 profit and loss account swung into the red and revenues slumped. Education software firm Tribal Group has unveiled a strong performance in the final quarter of the year, saying adjusted pre-tax profit for 2011 will be 'significantly' ahead of the board's previous expectations.Hot Tuna, the troubled surf wear retailer, tumbled after announcing that it is selling itself to Brand Holdings for £950,000.BCFTSE 100 - RisersRoyal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 24.26p +5.48%Barclays (BARC) 199.15p +2.95%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 30.00p +2.92%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,079.00p +2.66%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,091.00p +2.54%Man Group (EMG) 109.10p +2.25%BT Group (BT.A) 203.80p +2.05%ITV (ITV) 74.20p +1.57%GKN (GKN) 201.70p +1.51%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 263.60p +1.50%FTSE 100 - FallersBunzl (BNZL) 889.00p -0.73%Experian (EXPN) 858.50p -0.46%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,447.50p -0.28%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 698.50p -0.07%WPP (WPP) 732.50p 0.00%FTSE 250 - RisersSpectris (SXS) 1,491.00p +5.74%Hays (HAS) 63.80p +3.66%Balfour Beatty (BBY) 288.00p +3.56%Filtrona PLC (FLTR) 410.00p +2.50%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 10.00p +2.41%F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 63.00p +2.27%Senior (SNR) 185.00p +2.21%AZ Electronic Materials SA (DI) (AZEM) 269.70p +2.16%Wood Group (John) (WG.) 691.50p +2.14%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 299.90p +2.11%FTSE 250 - FallersInvensys (ISYS) 184.70p -18.67%Carpetright (CPR) 518.00p -4.16%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 542.50p -3.21%Premier Farnell (PFL) 184.70p -3.04%Ocado Group (OCDO) 72.00p -2.70%Cape (CIU) 378.00p -2.65%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 47.70p -2.65%Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 285.00p -2.53%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 112.00p -2.18%Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 1,391.00p -1.90%
Last checked at 
