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FTSE 100 strengthens as banking stocks attempt rally

FTSE 100 strengthens as banking stocks attempt rally
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The FTSE 100 index of leading shares rose yesterday (January 19th) after an attempted rally by UK banking stocks.

Royal Bank of Scotland shares recovered some of the previous sessions losses, strengthening by 16.4 per cent.

Shares in Barclays increased by 2.3 per cent to 90.2p after shedding ten per cent during the previous session, while HSBC finished 1.8 per cent higher.

Overall, the FTSE 100 finished the session 17 points higher, an increase of 0.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan all cut their target prices for stock.

In a statement, Goldman said: "We continue to believe that profits will fall on an underlying basis across the group, given a combination of declining passenger volumes (linked to rising unemployment), higher pension costs, higher fuel costs (in 2009/10), lower subsidies and budgetary pressures in the US."ADNFCR-1681-ID-18982000-ADNFCR