London afternoon: Banks lead the fight back

Share prices are creeping higher after yesterday's heavy falls, with banking stocks leading the fight back.Barclays, HSBA and Lloyds Banking lead the banking sector higher while insurers such as Aviva and Legal & General are also wanted. An exception to the general strength of insurers is Friends Provident, which sees its share price adjusted downwards to take account of the demerger of its 52% stake in F&C Asset Management.Media stocks get a lift from Credit Suisse, which has upgraded the European media sector to "overweight". Publishers Reed Elsevier and Pearson plus pay-TV provider BSkyB all head higher.British Airways is flying high after announcing June passenger figures. Passenger capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres, was 1.7% below June 2008. Traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres, fell by 3.8%.BHP Billiton has agreed to sell its Yabulu nickel refinery for an undisclosed sum after writing down its value by US$675m. Engineer and construction contractor Balfour Beatty is lower after a trading update. The company has traded in line with expectations since its previous update in May. It attributed the steadiness of the ship to continued infrastructure spending by customers, acquisitions and tight control of costs.Oil and gas firm Salamander has spudded the Phu Kheng-1 exploration well in Block L27/43, Northeast Thailand. "Phu Kheng-1 has the potential to open up a new play in the Khorat basin," said chief executive James Menzies. Ireland's premier bank, Bank of Ireland, has warned it is facing a squeeze on profit margins in addition to the huge impairment charges it will take this year and next. "Demand for new lending remains muted and the lower interest rate environment together with the impact on deposit pricing of more intense competition has resulted in pressure on liability spreads," it said in a trading update. Irish building supplies firm Grafton said the recent tough conditions have impacted its profitability "severely", with revenues down 31% in the first half of the year.Five-a-side football pitch operator Goals Soccer continues to trade in line with expectations despite severe snow in February, which reduced interim sales and profits by approximately £300,000 in the six months to June.European Islamic Investment Bank (EIIB), the Sharia compliant investment bank, responded to the recent surge in its share price and admitted that it had received approaches. "The board of EIIB notes the recent movement in its share price and announces that it has received a number of preliminary approaches from third parties," said the group EIIB's share price has surged 40% in the last two days.IT services firm Morse is top of the TechMark charts. Revenue and adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) will be towards the upper end of analyst expectations for the year, it said.Shares in Bglobal rallied on news that the energy meter provider secured £15m of financing from Barclays Asset & Sales Finance to fund a further roll-out of its products. Bglobal said Barclays made the money available through a third party to provide ongoing lease finance arrangements to customers buying the group's smart meter services.