London midday: Banks provide a lift as markets shrug off UK downgrade

Markets were making decent gains on Monday morning, shrugging off the news that Fitch had stripped the UK of it prized 'AAA' credit rating, as investors went bargain hunting following some heavy falls the week before.Despite trimming losses after a decent rebound on Friday, the FTSE 100 still fell a total of 97.8 points last week, losing 1.53% of its value, as concerns about global economic growth and a sell-off in the commodities markets weighed on sentiment. Helping to lift markets this morning was the G20 showing support for the Bank of Japan's recent aggressive easing measures. There had been concerns that Japan would be warned about future bond buying given the rapid depreciation of the yen over the last few weeks.Meanwhile, Giorgio Napolitano allowed himself to be re-elected President of Italy over the weekend as the country attempted to move towards political stability two months after the inconclusive elections. Market analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari this morning that Fitch's decision to downgrade the UK from 'AAA' to 'AA+' over the weekend "absolutely no impact on the markets"."Decisions by ratings agencies to downgrade countries rarely have an impact on the markets these days. However, given that this followed Moody's decision to downgrade the UK back in February, it really is no surprise to see the markets overlook it when they reopened on Monday."The focus of markets this week will likely be on gross domestic product (GDP) growth figures from both the UK and US on Thursday and Friday. Consensus estimates are for a 0.1% expansion in UK GDP in the first quarter, and 3.1% growth in the States.Stock futures in the US were pointing to a strong start on Wall Street with Caterpillar in focus ahead of its first-quarter results. The industrial machines manufacturer is expected to report a 43% drop in earnings to 136 cents a share and a 14% decline in revenue to $13.8bn.FTSE 100: Financials lead the wayAn increase in risk appetite was benefitting financial stocks this morning with banking peers Barclays, Lloyds, RBS, Standard Chartered and HSBC among the highest risers. Insurance giant Standard Life and asset manager Aberdeen were also in demand.Lloyds had been making headlines over the weekend on rumours that it is putting its fund management arm Scottish Widows Investment Partnership up for sale to raise £820m. US financial services giant Ameriprise is said to be considering an offer for the unit. Lloyds is expected to show a return to profitability in its first-quarter results next week.Insurance giant Standard Life was also in demand ahead of its first-quarter update on Wednesday. Panmure Gordon has reiterated its 'buy' rating for the stock this morning, saying that the recent pull-back in the stock gives investors an "excellent opportunity to acquire the shares".ENRC was a heavy faller, pulling back after having surged by over a quarter on Friday after major shareholder Alexander Machkevitch said he was seeking a consortium to mount a bid for the Kazakhstan-focused miner. Consumer product group Reckitt Benckiser edged higher in early trading after reporting decent growth in the first quarter with its Health division performing strongly as a more favourable cold and flu season increased the demand for Strepsils, Mucinex and certain Nurofen products.Terrestrial broadcaster ITV impressed after announcing the acquisition of The Garden, the production company behind the popular show '24 Hours in A&E'.FTSE 250: Spirent drops after Q1 slowdownSpirent Communications was a heavy faller on the FTSE 250 after saying that the slowdown in the market was worse than expected in the first quarter.Online betting group Betfair pleased the market after rejecting a proposal for a possible bid offer from CVC Capital Partners, saying that it under valued the company's prospects and was highly conditional.Events firm Informa gained after saying that the 3.6% organic revenue decline in the first quarter was as anticipated.FTSE 100 - RisersRandgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,857.00p +4.14%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 290.20p +3.46%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 48.89p +2.95%Barclays (BARC) 294.30p +2.78%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 258.70p +2.54%Standard Life (SL.) 342.40p +2.42%easyJet (EZJ) 1,133.00p +2.16%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 855.50p +2.15%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 172.40p +2.07%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 110.30p +2.04%FTSE 100 - FallersEurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 279.20p -4.05%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,284.00p -1.38%Wood Group (John) (WG.) 793.00p -1.31%Evraz (EVR) 160.10p -1.05%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,367.00p -0.92%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,780.00p -0.84%Amec (AMEC) 993.50p -0.60%Serco Group (SRP) 603.50p -0.49%Croda International (CRDA) 2,536.00p -0.47%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,224.00p -0.41%FTSE 250 - RisersOcado Group (OCDO) 148.00p +5.71%International Personal Finance (IPF) 471.20p +5.46%Betfair Group (BET) 846.00p +5.09%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 36.84p +4.39%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 185.20p +3.41%Supergroup (SGP) 719.50p +3.38%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 125.40p +3.21%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 410.80p +2.80%Redrow (RDW) 203.30p +2.78%Vesuvius (VSVS) 330.30p +2.55%FTSE 250 - FallersKazakhmys (KAZ) 361.30p -6.33%Persimmon (PSN) 1,062.00p -6.02%Spirent Communications (SPT) 116.00p -4.92%Renishaw (RSW) 1,517.00p -2.19%NMC Health (NMC) 333.10p -2.03%Regus (RGU) 156.70p -2.00%COLT Group SA (COLT) 122.10p -1.93%Anite (AIE) 115.00p -1.71%Ted Baker (TED) 1,263.00p -1.71%Diploma (DPLM) 547.00p -1.62%BC