Financials push FTSE up to year high

The FTSE 100 has pared gains mid-morning after its strong start, which saw it set a new year high.

London's blue-chip index is 34.67 points higher (075%) to 4681.8 after touching 4,704.36, its highest point since January.

Financials continued to dominate the top slots, with Lloyds Banking Group up 6.7% to 99.45p after double-digit gains on Wednesday.

Royal Bank of Scotland is also ahead, up 6.47% to 51.85p.

Insurer Aviva is also in favour after better-than-expected profit results for the first half of the year. It is currently 6% ahead to 377.8p.

In New York on Wednesday, stocks slipped on figures showing a sharper-than-expected contraction in the services sector. The Dow Jones fell 39.22 points (0.4%) to 9,280.97.

Asian stock markets mostly advanced Thursday led by Hong Kong and Japan despite weak economic data. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 135.56 points (1.3%) to 10,388.09.