Part-nationalised bank Lloyds rises up onto the FTSE 100's leaderboard, dragging up other rival UK bank stocks, which traders attribute tothe effect of a broker upgrade on the stock.
Investec raises its rating on Lloyds to "buy" from "hold", helping pushLloyds' shares up by 1.1 percent to 73.31 pence.
Lloyds outperforms a flat performance on the FTSE 100 and the overallfinancial sector adds the most points to the FTSE, with rival Barclays also gaining 1 percent.
Trading volumes on Lloyds come in at around 28 percent of their usual 90-dayamount - slightly above those for the FTSE 100 where volumes stand at 20 percentof the average 90-day amount.
"At the moment, I am accumulating Lloyds. We feel it could go up to the 1pound mark in several months time," says JN Financial trader Rick Jones.
Reuters messaging rm://sudip.kargupta.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net