London open: Lloyds, RBS and Barclays lead rally

Shares have staged an impressive rally after yesterday's slide, with banking trip Lloyds, RBS and Barclays setting the pace in the FTSE 100.They are joined higher by private equity investor 3i, which warned that falling stock markets will lead to an inevitable fall in the value of its portfolio at the half-year stage but said net debt has decreased from its year-end (March) level of £522m to £343 million at 31 August.Euromoney Institutional Investor falls back. The business-to-business publisher and events organiser, has seen a slow-down in the rate of growth of advertising and event sponsorship sales in the last couple of months but bookings for events and courses have held up well, while subscriptions revenues, which account for approximately half the group's total revenues, have continued to grow at similar rates to the third quarter. Total revenues for the year to September 30, 2011 are expected to show a headline increase of around 10% on 2010.British Gas owner Centrica's North American subsidiary, Direct Energy, has agreed to acquire the Texas-based energy retailer First Choice Power for $270m (£175m) in cash, plus additional working capital.Among smaller companies, mail order gardening, gift and audiobook retailer Flying Brands is in negotiations to sell property assets to avoid breaching its banking covenants following a sharp deterioration in trading.FTSE 100 - RisersHSBC Holdings (HSBA) 493.20p +1.44%3i Group (III) 190.00p +1.39%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 267.00p +1.33%Vodafone Group (VOD) 161.20p +1.29%Tesco (TSCO) 360.70p +1.25%Barclays (BARC) 140.55p +1.22%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,245.00p +1.22%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 108.60p +1.21%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 32.87p +1.09%Inmarsat (ISAT) 468.00p +1.06%FTSE 100 - FallersFresnillo (FRES) 1,689.00p -1.17%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,633.00p -0.97%ARM Holdings (ARM) 569.50p -0.96%Amec (AMEC) 843.00p -0.77%Essar Energy (ESSR) 245.60p -0.49%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 567.00p -0.44%Xstrata (XTA) 845.90p -0.42%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 972.50p -0.36%Aggreko (AGK) 1,725.00p -0.29%Antofagasta (ANTO) 970.00p -0.26%FTSE 250 - RisersPremier Foods (PFD) 11.85p +6.09%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 40.15p +3.45%Afren (AFR) 90.90p +3.24%Bellway (BWY) 625.00p +2.97%Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 332.30p +2.88%Ocado Group (OCDO) 98.90p +2.81%Redrow (RDW) 109.80p +2.62%Supergroup (SGP) 1,032.00p +2.38%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 587.00p +2.18%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 145.10p +2.18%FTSE 250 - FallersBetfair Group (BET) 700.00p -3.18%JPMorgan Russian Securities (JRS) 461.00p -2.54%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 193.00p -1.88%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 570.00p -1.72%Elementis (ELM) 128.20p -1.38%DS Smith (SMDS) 182.00p -1.09%JPMorgan Indian Inv Trust (JII) 357.10p -1.08%Kier Group (KIE) 1,221.00p -1.05%Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 198.00p -1.00%Exillon Energy (EXI) 256.60p -0.93%