UK Chancellor George Osborne to cut bank levy

In the first Conservative Budget since 1996, Chancellor George Osborne announced that the bank levy rate will be gradually reduced over the next six years and a new 8% surcharge on bank profits will be introduced from January 2016.After that, Osborne said he will ensure the levy no longer applies to worldwide balance sheets.The announcement boosted banking stocks, with the FTSE 350 index for the sector up 1.6%.In terms of individual stock, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland rose 1.2%, while Lloyds Banking Group added 1% and Standard Chartered gained 0.5%.Barclays was up nearly 4%, but the bulk of those gains was related to news that the bank has given its chief executive Antony Jenkins the boot.