London open: RBS leads banking rally

Having missed out yesterday on the strong gains seen on stock exchanges that were open for business, London is playing catch-up today, with the leading share index posting triple-digit gains.Banks are posting strong gains, with RBS up by more than 10% and peers Barclays and Lloyds also in demand. Oil and gas group Afren saw profits fall in the half year to 30 June after shutting down its Ebok field in Nigeria for safety reasons. Pre-tax profits fell to £43.7m from £75.4m over the same period the previous year on revenues that were down to £161m from £214.8m. However, production has been ramped up and the shares are higher today.Margins are on the mend at house builder Bovis Homes, which saw profits more than double in the first half of 2011. Profit before tax surged to £8.6m in the first six months of the year from £3.5m the year before.Gold miner Randgold Resources is a rare faller today after saying its Loulo/Gounkoto complex in Mali suffered in the third quarter after abnormally heavy rainfall. The bad weather has meant that targets for the third quarter have been substantially lowered as a result.Dominique Yates has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer of Regus, the workspace provider, taking over from Stephen Gleadle, who is stepping down after six years in the role to pursue other opportunities. The stock climbs nearly 8%.The first set of interim results from media group Perform since it floated in April of this year showed the sporting events film footage provider on a growth trajectory.Revenue in the first half of 2011 of £45.1m was almost half as much again as the £30.7m racked up in the first half of last year, with the group boasting strong growth across all of its business areas.FTSE 100 - RisersRoyal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 24.35p +11.29%Barclays (BARC) 168.25p +8.55%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 32.10p +8.04%Carnival (CCL) 1,944.00p +5.82%Cairn Energy (CNE) 314.80p +5.11%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 334.00p +5.10%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,040.00p +4.94%Man Group (EMG) 217.80p +4.91%Prudential (PRU) 601.00p +4.89%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,019.00p +4.78%FTSE 100 - FallersRandgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,190.00p -2.37%Unilever (ULVR) 2,013.00p -0.05%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 2,515.00p +0.24%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,296.00p +0.54%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 294.00p +0.68%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 312.00p +0.71%Tesco (TSCO) 368.50p +0.79%British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,723.00p +0.95%Vodafone Group (VOD) 163.45p +0.96%Diageo (DGE) 1,205.00p +1.09%FTSE 250 - RisersPerform Group (PER) 183.30p +8.46%Regus (RGU) 69.00p +7.81%Keller Group (KLR) 369.30p +6.73%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 334.10p +6.06%TUI Travel (TT.) 158.40p +5.81%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 45.00p +5.12%Supergroup (SGP) 928.50p +5.09%International Personal Finance (IPF) 246.70p +5.07%Soco International (SIA) 323.20p +5.04%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 76.45p +4.94%FTSE 250 - FallersF&C Asset Management (FCAM) 66.35p -1.99%Lamprell (LAM) 266.90p -1.88%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 838.00p -0.95%QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 114.80p -0.95%Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) 100.00p -0.50%WH Smith (SMWH) 481.30p -0.33%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 261.10p -0.31%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 542.50p -0.28%BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 1,980.00p -0.25%Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 491.90p -0.02%