Banks and miners drive early FTSE charge

In London, markets experienced strong, early growth, with banks and miners leading the pack.

The FTSE 100 added 40.81 points (0.93%) to 4,429.56 by mid-morning.

Lloyds Banking Group shares surged forward this morning on the back of a rumour that Ron Sandler, chairman of Northern Rock, is among the frontrunners to take over from the bank's existing chairman, Sir Victor Blank. Shares jumped 8.15% to 73p.

Kazakhmys and Rio Tinto led growth in the mining sector, up 4.7% and 3.34% respectively.

Wall Street shares were in positive territory at the end of last week after a day of mixed corporate reports.

The Dow Jones climbed 32.12 points (0.37%) to 8,743.94 on the back of strong bank results.

JPMorgan Chase shares continued to build after making major profits in the second quarter, up 1.83% to 36.82.

However, despite better than expected profit reports, Citigroup and Bank of America shares fell, down 0.66% and 2.43% respectively.

General Electric shares saw the largest fall, down 6.13% after the firm revealed its profits have been cut in half.
Tokyo's stock markets were closed today for the Marine Day national holiday.