The equity bandwagon is back on the road after pulling over into a lay-by for repairs yesterday, after French President Nicolas Sarkozy said last night it is necessary 'to put an end to all doubts' over the European Union's commitment to sorting out the region's debt crisis.

In what may be a sneak preview of the German-French stance, Sarkozy insisted on the need for governmental convergence of the Eurozone members.

BANKS AND MINERS LEAD THE CHARGE

Banks and miners are largely responsible for the blue-chip index bursting back above the 5,500 barrier.

Metal prices are on the rise, prompting demand for metal diggers such as Vedanta, BHP Billiton and Antofagasta. One of the big beasts of the sector, Rio Tinto, has given the green light to an additional $2.7bn capital investment to modernise its aluminium smelter in Kitimat, British Columbia. This new investment will allow for completion of the $3.3bn project in 2014. The Kitimat modernisation project will increase the smelter's current production capacity by more than 48% to around 420,000 tonnes per year.

Banks are led higher by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The debt-laden government-owned lender has sold its tenanted pub business to Scottish & Newcastle Pub Company (S&NPC), a subsidiary of Dutch brewer Heineken. The business, which comprises 918 pubs across the UK, has been operated since 1999 by S&NPC under a management agreement. As a result of the sale, RBS received cash proceeds of around £422m.

NOT UP THE JUNCTION

House builder Berkeley Group is wanted after it saw profit before tax rise by 64.1% to £101.1m in the six months ended October 31st from £61.6m the year before. The figure was inflated by a £30.1m profit on the disposal of a 51% shareholding in a post-graduate accommodation scheme for Imperial College at Clapham Junction. Revenue rose 20.4% to £404.9m from £336.2m. In Central London, demand for prime residential property in good locations remained strong over the period as a whole and this has seen Berkeley increase its level of forward sales by 15.2% from £813.5m to £937.2m, the company said.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

The prolonged courtship of content creation software developer Alterian by document and patent translation specialist SDL is drawing to a close. The two companies are set to tie the knot, with Alterian agreeing to a deal worth 110p a share, a premium of around 73.2% over the share price of Alterian on the day before SDL's bid interest became public.

Repair services firm HomeServe is set to pay £83m for Veolia Environnement's 51% share of Doméo SA, giving HomeServe 100% ownership of the French provider of insured home emergency policies.

In what may be a blow to Aussie pride, global brewing colossus SABMiller has finally tied up its purchase of Foster's, the iconic Australian lager firm. As part of the deal SABMiller had to agree to keep the management of Foster's within Australia.

FTSE 100 - Risers
ICAP (IAP) 359.20p +4.33%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 21.19p +3.11%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 24.74p +3.08%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,086.00p +3.04%
Barclays (BARC) 182.50p +3.02%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,978.50p +2.89%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 509.70p +2.82%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,202.00p +2.74%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,444.00p +2.63%
Xstrata (XTA) 1,034.00p +2.58%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Admiral Group (ADM) 898.50p -1.48%
Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 727.50p -0.82%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 323.00p +0.03%
G4S (GFS) 257.40p +0.08%
Meggitt (MGGT) 383.20p +0.10%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 303.60p +0.13%
British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 767.00p +0.13%
National Grid (NG.) 629.00p +0.24%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,559.00p +0.39%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 594.50p +0.42%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Home Retail Group (HOME) 96.50p +6.75%
Supergroup (SGP) 521.50p +6.00%
Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 273.90p +4.46%
De La Rue (DLAR) 895.50p +3.95%
Inchcape (INCH) 331.80p +3.53%
Lamprell (LAM) 283.00p +3.28%
Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 176.80p +2.97%
Mothercare (MTC) 160.40p +2.49%
Kesa Electricals (KESA) 86.95p +2.47%
Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 236.10p +2.39%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
SThree (STHR) 219.50p -10.04%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 16.10p -3.54%
Genus (GNS) 1,012.00p -1.75%
Unite Group (UTG) 172.60p -1.37%
Exillon Energy (EXI) 271.40p -1.34%
Rank Group (RNK) 140.20p -1.20%
Betfair Group (BET) 767.00p -1.16%
Computacenter (CCC) 334.80p -1.15%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 250.00p -0.99%
Interserve (IRV) 314.90p -0.97%

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Related share prices
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) share price
Rio Tinto (RIO) share price
SABMiller (SAB) share price
SDL (SDL) share price
Homeserve (HSV) share price
Alterian (ALN) share price