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According to Reuters, the index was up 8.48 points to 5,335.47 at 11:49 GMT, with gains of between one per cent and 4.1 per cent being recorded by Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC, Barclays, Standard Chartered and Royal Bank of Scotland.
A rally was also seen in the insurance sector, where Standard Life and Aviva were both higher, however a number of mining companies recorded declines due to the fact that the prices of gold and other commodities have dropped.
Anglo American, Xstrata, Fresnillo, Lonmin and Rio Tinto were down by as much as 2.1 per cent.
Retail group Kingfisher climbed after posting its financial results for the third quarter and market analyst Nick Serff said that the jump was due to the firm "cutting debt more quickly than expected".
Posted by Clive Arneil
