UK banking group Barclays was performing well today after releasing the details of its strategic review, which includes 3,700 jobs cuts.

Meanwhile, the company said that adjusted profits before tax grew 26% to £7.05bn in 2012, helped by a 46% improvement in Corporate and Investment Banking and 52% in Wealth and Investment Management.

Sector peers Lloyds and RBS were also making strong gains.

Shares in Aggreko got a boost after HSBC upgraded the stock to a neutral rating.

Reckitt Benckiser Group, the British consumer goods company, rose on news it has signed a three-year collaboration agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), under which Reckitt will license a number of Latin American consumer health care brands from BMS.

Heading the other way was aerospace and defence giant BAE Systems after JPMorgan Cazenove said in its morning note to clients that the company faces "major structural problems" and is likely to underperform peers over the next 12-24 months.

Engineering giant GKN was taking a hit, most likely because Michelin warned that sales and earnings are likely not grow this year due to the recession on the Continent.

Merger partners Xstrata and Glencore were both unwanted after publishing production reports for 2012. The firms also said the merger was still waiting on the approvals of regulators in China, amongst other things.


FTSE 100 - Risers
Barclays (BARC) 324.70p +7.69%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 55.01p +4.28%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 351.70p +3.35%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,620.00p +2.47%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 409.60p +2.35%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 4,329.00p +2.22%
Sage Group (SGE) 341.60p +2.15%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 261.20p +1.99%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,787.00p +1.88%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 920.00p +1.83%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
BAE Systems (BA.) 330.10p -1.90%
GKN (GKN) 253.50p -1.71%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,119.00p -1.24%
Glencore International (GLEN) 381.85p -1.18%
Amec (AMEC) 1,089.00p -1.18%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,780.00p -1.11%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,261.00p -1.02%
Reed Elsevier (REL) 686.50p -1.01%
Xstrata (XTA) 1,149.00p -0.99%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,139.00p -0.95%

Related share prices
BAE Systems (BA.) share price
Barclays (BARC) share price
GKN (GKN) share price
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) share price
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) share price
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) share price
Aggreko (AGK) share price
Xstrata (XTA) share price
Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) share price