UK banking stocks advanced after Germany's high court approved the Eurozone's new rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), with Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Standard Chartered and HSBC were making gains by this afternoon.

RBS was also benefiting after Liberum Capital lifted its target price for the stock from 260p to 270p and reiterated its 'buy' rating. The lender has also successfully completed a $2bn 3 year note issue.

Shares in oil-field services outfit Petrofac are moving up the leader board after the successful completion and signing of a new $1.2bn syndicated five-year revolving credit facility.

Following falls early on, B&Q owner Kingfisher was trading higher by the afternoon despite reporting that first-half sales and adjusted pre-tax profits slipped 3.3% and 15.5%, respectively, as wet weather and adverse exchange rates put a dampener on its performance. Panmure Gordon maintained its 'buy' recommendation for the shares this morning, saying that the business remains "on track for the long term".

Telecoms giant BT Group was making gains after Credit Suisse raised its target price for the shares from 250p to 300p and maintained its 'outperform' rating.

Meanwhile, sector peer Vodafone fell on reports that Verizon Wireless's special dividend may be delayed after people close to the matter said that the US mobile-phone joint venture will not discuss it at an upcoming meeting next week.


FTSE 100 - Risers
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 274.20p +3.59%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 38.38p +3.53%
Evraz (EVR) 269.60p +3.26%
Sage Group (SGE) 314.10p +2.71%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,259.00p +2.69%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,723.00p +2.62%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,001.00p +2.30%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,633.00p +2.25%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 293.80p +2.01%
BT Group (BT.A) 231.00p +1.99%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,090.00p -2.59%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 637.50p -2.52%
BG Group (BG.) 1,245.00p -2.01%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,072.00p -1.47%
Diageo (DGE) 1,675.00p -1.41%
Pearson (PSON) 1,157.00p -1.36%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,140.50p -1.30%
Wolseley (WOS) 2,652.00p -1.23%
ICAP (IAP) 334.70p -1.03%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,935.50p -1.00%

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Related share prices
Barclays (BARC) share price
BT Group (BT.A) share price
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) share price
Kingfisher (KGF) share price
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) share price
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) share price
Standard Chartered (STAN) share price
Vodafone Group (VOD) share price
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) share price