Banks pull FTSE up after rising on news of Greek agreement – London Report
AGREEMENT between the Eurozone leaders on a third bailout for Greece helped to push banks up yesterday, dragging the FTSE to a two-week high.
Shawbrook and HSBC rose the most among banks, gaining 4.6 and 2.1 per cent respectively.
News of a deal was met with a mixture of relief and anger in Greece, after it became clear the country will have to swallow more austerity.
“It’s generally seen by the markets at the moment as a done deal, but clearly there will be some sort of political wranglings about this both domestically for [Greek Prime Minister Alexis] Tsipras and his party and within the euro zone region as well,” said London Capital Group analyst Brenda Kelly.
British Airways’ owner International Consolidated Airlines Group was the biggest gainer of the day in percentage terms, rising 3.4 percent after UBS upgraded the stock to “buy” from “neutral”.
The FTSE 100 is up by 2.6 per cent since the start of 2015, but down over five per cent from a record high of 7,122.74 points reached in April.
The FTSE 100 index .FTSE closed one per cent up at 6,737.95 points