London open: Sun comes out for Thomas Cook

Banks are leading London higher, buoyed by reports that the Eurozone finance ministers are set to do them a favour when they meet in Brussels tomorrow. Reports say the finance chiefs are discussing the possibility that the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) could insure the bonds of debt-ravaged countries, with guarantees of 20% to 30%. Lenders Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and Lloyds are the three best performing blue-chips, while among the second-liners troubled package tour operator Thomas Cook continues its Phoenix-like recovery after it agreed a new lifeline with its bankers late last Friday.MINING CORNERMiners are firmer, with the notable exception of gold digger Randgold Resources, which has cut its production forecast for the year after running into a number a difficulties at its Tongon mine in Côte d'Ivoire. The company now expects group production for the year to drop from between 740,000 and 760,000 ounces to between 690,000 to 700,000 ounces.Meanwhile, at diversified mining leviathan BHP Billiton, there are to be changes at the top after the surprise announcement of the imminent departure of Alex Vanselow, Group Executive and Chief Financial Officer of the group. He will be succeeded by Graham Kerr, recently President of BHP Billiton's Diamonds and Speciality Products business. Mike Henry, President of Marketing, will join the Group Management Committee as Group Executive and Chief Marketing Officer, reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, Marius Kloppers.ROLLS-ROYCE CONNECTIONEngineer Senior is reducing its dependence on US aeroplane maker Boeing with the acquisition of Airbus-parts supplier Weston. Based in Colne, Lancashire, but with production facilities in Thailand, Weston counts Rolls-Royce, Spirit Aerosystems (Europe) and Contour Aerospace as its biggest customers.As for Rolls-Royce itself, the company and the trustees of its pension fund have come to an arrangement with Deutsche Bank that will see the bank share the burden of pension payments should pension scheme members live longer than expected; the corollary to this is that the fund will have to make payments to Deutsche Bank if members die younger than anticipated. FTSE 100 - RisersRoyal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 19.59p +4.54%Barclays (BARC) 161.75p +3.92%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 24.07p +3.82%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,859.00p +3.57%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 828.00p +2.86%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,115.50p +2.75%Aviva (AV.) 288.10p +2.75%ARM Holdings (ARM) 568.00p +2.71%Essar Energy (ESSR) 219.70p +2.66%ICAP (IAP) 336.50p +2.65%FTSE 100 - FallersRandgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,485.00p -4.28%FTSE 250 - RisersThomas Cook Group (TCG) 24.27p +34.68%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 271.40p +5.44%International Personal Finance (IPF) 177.90p +4.59%Exillon Energy (EXI) 263.30p +4.28%Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 248.30p +4.11%Invensys (ISYS) 189.80p +4.11%Pace (PIC) 46.50p +4.03%EnQuest (ENQ) 88.80p +3.68%Cookson Group (CKSN) 469.10p +3.58%Hays (HAS) 69.25p +3.51%FTSE 250 - FallersGalliford Try (GFRD) 469.80p -0.47%Berendsen (BRSN) 421.10p -0.21%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 531.00p -0.19%London & Stamford Property Ltd. (LSP) 113.80p -0.18%HICL Infrastructure Company Ltd. (HICL) 116.00p -0.17%Electra Private Equity (ELTA) 1,415.00p -0.14%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 14.86p -0.13%