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Banks lead the way in Greece relief rally as FTSE gains 1.5pc
Britain’s top share index gained sharply yesterday as Greek lawmakers backed an austerity plan to pave the way for bailout aid, with financials and commodity stocks leading the gainers. The FTSE 100 index closed up 89.07 points, or 1.5 per cent, at 5,855.95, building on Tuesday’s 0.8 per cent gain, having hit a fresh three-month low last Thursday.
Banks rose, while interdealer broker ICAP added 9.7 per cent to become the top riser in the FTSE 100. Keith Baird, analyst at Oriel, cited improving sentiment for recently beaten-down financial stocks as optimism gathered pace surrounding the Greek vote.
Economic data from the US also helped the rally as pending sales of existing US homes bounced back from a seven-month low in May.