London midday: Banks hold back FTSE 100

Shares are still seeking direction as banks fall back.The sector is weak after comments by the head of the Independent Banking Commission over stricter capital rules and possible separation of the retail and investment bank arms. The political problems in Ireland have also unsettled the mood. RBS and Lloyds are both lower. International Consolidated Airlines, the newly formed British Airways-Iberia entity, is up on its first day.Standard Chartered has agreed to buy Singapore-based car and personal loans business GE Money for an undisclosed sum. Though no financial details have been disclosed, talk is that GE will get as much as S$900m (£439m) for the unit.Data search software giant Autonomy has announced its seventh and eighth contract wins of 2011. The company has entered into a "significant agreement" with Euronews, a leading international news channel in Europe, and with an unnamed US hedge fund. Outsource giant Serco has played down weekend reports it wants to buy US homeland security firm SRA International. The UK firm says it is "not in any discussions regarding any major transaction at this time," though it did not say whether it had been in discussions prior to the announcement. Stories at the weekend suggested Serco had made an offer worth $2bn for SRA and had been mulling a £500m rights issue to help pay for the deal. John Lovering is to step down as chairman of Mitchells and Butlers and quit the board later this year. The pubs group is searching for a successor to Lovering whose stint in the chair has been short but action packed. Irish foods group Greencore may be prepared to improve its offer for biscuits and pizza group Northern Foods after the agreed merger between the two was scuppered by Indian firm Boparan's £342m offer late Friday. Elsewhere in food, Premier Foods is higher, though off its earlier highs, after announcing that it has sold its vegetarian foods business to a private equity consortium for £205m as it seeks to reduce its debt burden. Premier, whose most famous brands include Hovis bread and Sharwood's cooking sauces, sold the division to Exponent Private Equity, whose current portfolio includes the bed retailer Dreams and the rail ticket website thetrainline.com.Banknote printer De La Rue has rejected an improved offer from French rival Oberthur. Oberthur increased its offer for De La Rue to 935p from 905p previously, but De La Rue said that this "continues to undervalue significantly the strong fundamentals of the Company and its long term prospects."Shares of 3D and 2D x-ray imaging firm Image Scan powered ahead after it announced it had signed a £750,000 contract for the supply of an x-ray inspection system for use within a large UK nuclear facility. Gem Diamonds received record average prices for stones from its Let?eng and Ellendale mines during the fourth quarter. Over the last three months of 2010, 24,517 carats of rough diamonds from Let?eng in Lesotho were sold at an average price of $3,291 per carat, up 74% from the $1,894 it made the year before.FTSE 100 - RisersWhitbread (WTB) 1,755.00p +2.03%British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,322.00p +1.73%BAE Systems (BA.) 355.60p +1.72%AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,007.50p +1.48%Diageo (DGE) 1,221.00p +1.41%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 134.40p +1.36%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 378.40p +1.20%Tesco (TSCO) 404.75p +1.19%Experian (EXPN) 770.50p +1.18%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,168.00p +1.04%FTSE 100 - FallersRoyal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 43.55p -3.09%Invensys (ISYS) 325.30p -2.90%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 65.45p -2.85%Prudential (PRU) 653.00p -1.80%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,624.00p -1.75%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,389.00p -1.56%IMI (IMI) 877.00p -1.46%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 1,015.00p -1.36%Carnival (CCL) 2,943.00p -1.24%GKN (GKN) 209.30p -1.23%FTSE 250 - RisersOcado Group (OCDO) 244.50p +7.71%Savills (SVS) 351.20p +3.29%IG Group Holdings (IGG) 484.20p +3.15%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 71.85p +2.79%Computacenter (CCC) 451.20p +2.73%ITV (ITV) 77.25p +2.73%Inchcape (INCH) 389.00p +2.64%National Express Group (NEX) 248.30p +2.56%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 184.50p +2.50%Chemring Group (CHG) 3,323.00p +2.40%FTSE 250 - FallersHochschild Mining (HOC) 474.70p -2.92%Sportingbet (SBT) 56.50p -2.59%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 106.70p -2.56%Telecity Group (TCY) 434.50p -2.27%John Wood Group (WG.) 532.00p -2.12%Misys (MSY) 332.60p -2.09%Spirent Communications (SPT) 134.40p -2.04%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 127.30p -2.00%Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 872.50p -1.91%EnQuest (ENQ) 143.00p -1.72%