Mixed fortunes for bank stocks

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Shares in embattled Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) rallied 15% as investment giant M&G backed its takeover by Lloyds TSB - which also saw its price rise 5%.

That followed a 21% rise for HBOS on Wednesday amid similar expressions of confidence in the deal from the Prime Minister.

But Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland were both on weaker ground, falling 1% and 2% respectively.

The mixed performances came after Downing Street confirmed the PM would travel to Paris on Saturday to discuss the current situation with his French, German and Italian counterparts.

Another challenging day for the London market came on the back of the US Senate's approval of a revised version of the 700 billion dollar (£385 billion) American bail-out package.

The deal - which involves buying toxic bad debts off struggling banks - must still be passed by the House of Representatives which narrowly rejected an initial version on Monday.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy announced Saturday's talks, which will be held in Paris, will also include the presidents of the European Commission and the European Central Bank, this morning.

But proposals on the table will not include any EU-wide bail-out of banks like that being debated in the United States, Downing Street revealed.

Mr Brown's spokesman said that while there was a "European dimension" to the current problems, many of the issues were best dealt with at a national level.