London close: FTSE 100 flat despite gains in banking sector

- Markets flat despite banking strength- Volumes pick up but still on the low-side- German, US markets continue to set new highstechMARK 2,673.94 +0.22%FTSE 100 6,650.57 -0.06%FTSE 250 15,466.56 +0.23%UK markets finished broadly flat on Friday despite trading volumes picking up slightly following a quiet day yesterday, as investors turned cautious before the weekend and month-end.Even though there were some strong gains in the banking sector, the FTSE 100 was 3.9 points lower at 6,650.57 by the close, meaning that index finished down 80.86 (-1.2%) for the month of November.In contrast, the DAX 30 in Germany continued to set new all-time highs today with sentiment being lifted by an unexpected dip in Eurozone unemployment last month. The jobless rate in the single currency region fell to 12.1% in October from a record high of 12.2% US stocks also started strongly today as Wall Street re-opened after Thanksgiving with retail stocks lifting benchmarks to new highs on what is set to be a shortened trading session as Black Friday takes place. Retailers are hoping that customers will be enticed with special deals to mark the start to the holiday shopping season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 look set to close at fresh records when Wall Street closes at 13:00 Eastern time."This [week] could [...] be seen as the calm before the storm, with a huge amount of data being released next week, including the big daddy itself, the non-farm payrolls figure," said Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari. "This could potentially be the difference between a Fed taper in December or the first quarter of 2014. We also have a few central bank meetings, making next week a massive one for the markets," he said.Banks climb on capital hopesBanking stocks closed mostly higher today after the Prudential Regulation Authority eased capital rules slightly for lenders. The new regulations will allow banks to count a broader range of capital instruments in calculating their capital buffers than had originally been estimated. Meanwhile, analysts at Investec said today that Thursday's changes to the Funding for Lending Scheme by the Bank of England - to focus on business lending rather than mortgages - will lead to an increase in mortgage pricing, "but that's good news for the banks".Barclays was a strong performer today with Investec reportedly saying that concerns over further capital issuance at the bank in 2014 should "all but evaporate". Lloyds and Standard Chartered also finished higher, while HSBC fell into the red.Housebuilders were in the red again for the second day after the government announced yesterday that it would be changing its Funding for Lending Scheme to focus on small businesses, rather than mortgage lending. Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Bellway and Barratt Developments were all extending losses.Credit checking group Experian was also trading lower this morning after analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded their rating on the stock to 'sell' and cut their target price from 1,220p to 985p.Finnish nickel miner Talvivaara Mining's share price rocketed by over 40% after its application for a court-supervised restructuring to avoid bankruptcy was accepted.Speedy Hire plummeted after its Chief Executive resigned following the revelation of a £5m hole in its books.FTSE 100 - RisersBarclays (BARC) 271.70p +2.30%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,346.00p +1.99%Aggreko (AGK) 1,605.00p +1.97%AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,513.50p +1.78%Whitbread (WTB) 3,567.00p +1.36%William Hill (WMH) 385.60p +1.18%easyJet (EZJ) 1,424.00p +0.92%Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,310.00p +0.92%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,627.00p +0.74%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,796.00p +0.73%FTSE 100 - FallersExperian (EXPN) 1,127.00p -2.76%Anglo American (AAL) 1,349.00p -1.89%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 327.20p -1.71%SSE (SSE) 1,327.00p -1.63%BAE Systems (BA.) 427.40p -1.29%Wolseley (WOS) 3,297.00p -1.20%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 342.10p -1.18%Vedanta Resources (VED) 885.00p -1.17%Rexam (REX) 499.60p -1.07%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,142.00p -1.06%FTSE 250 - RisersIP Group (IPO) 192.00p +5.49%Computacenter (CCC) 670.00p +4.20%Marston's (MARS) 149.70p +4.18%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,243.00p +4.02%Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 357.00p +3.48%Betfair Group (BET) 1,043.00p +3.27%Carpetright (CPR) 602.00p +3.26%Rentokil Initial (RTO) 106.10p +3.21%Michael Page International (MPI) 475.00p +3.10%UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 313.00p +3.06%FTSE 250 - FallersCranswick (CWK) 1,141.00p -2.89%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 138.00p -2.75%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 142.10p -2.34%Polymetal International (POLY) 533.50p -1.84%Perform Group (PER) 439.00p -1.79%Menzies(John) (MNZS) 777.00p -1.65%Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,113.00p -1.54%Smith (DS) (SMDS) 305.50p -1.52%NMC Health (NMC) 407.30p -1.50%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 478.80p -1.48%BC