LONDON -- The big market driver today is the Bank of England's (B of E) new stimulus package, which gave a much-needed boost to the U.K.'s banking sector. Announced yesterday, the new measures will see billions in cheap credit provided to banks to lend on to business customers, in an effort to offset some of the contagion from the eurozone. It marks a change from the previous approach of quantitative easing, after banks were criticized for hanging on to too much of the cash and not passing on the liquidity as hoped.
The FTSE 100
Other European indexes followed suit with similar percentage gains -- the German DAX rose 58 points to 6.197 (1%) and in France the CAC 40 put on 39 points to 3,073 (1.4%).
Good for banks
Bank shares responded appropriately, with Royal Bank of Scotland
Some of the miners regained a little of yesterday's losses, led by Xstrata
At the red end of the table, BSkyB Group
Mixed company news
Premier Foods
Shares in Lamprell put on 10 pence for a gain of 13% to 89 pence on news that the company has successfully delivered an offshore drilling platform.
Meanwhile, a profit warning from Albermarle & Bond pushed the pawnbroker's shares down 6%, falling 17 pence to 259 pence. A pre-close update from Aggreko also disappointed the market, and its shares dropped 91 pence, for a 4% fall to 2,069 pence.
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