FTSE Leaps On US Bailout Hopes

The FTSE100 stood 7.8 percent higher at 10.45am Lodon time on Friday to snap a four-day losing run, led by banks on hopes of a comprehensive U.S. plan to end the turmoil that is engulfing financial markets.

A ban by financial regulators on short-selling of some financial stocks also boosted the market.

At 10.45am the index stood 382.8 points higher at 5262.8, recovering much of the 9.9 percent losses in the previous four sessions.

Banks led the way higher with RBS +43%, HBOS +39%, B&B +37%, Lloyds TSB +35% and Barclays +32%.

Wall Street had its biggest percentage gain in six years on Thursday after the Treasury and Fed said they were working on a plan to deal with the billions of dollars of bad debt still clogging the financial system.