Banks prop up the Footsie

The FTSE 100 Index has shrugged off further weakness in the telecom sector today to close up 33.6 points at 5204.8.

Banking and pharmaceutical stocks made headway in the City, while early gains on Wall Street helped to bolster spirits.

HSBC, now the third biggest stock on the London market, rose close to the top of the leaderboard with a 23½p gain to 862½p. The rise was mirrored by its rivals with Barclays up 10½p to 615½p. Royal Bank of Scotland also moved ahead, rising 34p to £20.44, Lloyds TSB edged ahead 11p to 788p and HBOS finished 5½p higher at 803p.

GlaxoSmithKline added to the push, closing 19p higher at £16.52, as defensive stocks gained from softness among their hi-tech counterparts.

Telecom stocks were decidedly off colour as investors fretted at the prospect of earnings reports from some of the sector's biggest players later this week. Cable & Wireless, due to report on Wednesday, fell 3¾p to 199p, while BT, set to report a day later, fell 4p to 254p.

Vodafone slipped closer to the 100p barrier, falling ¼p to 102¾p and mmO2 dropped 1½p to 44½p. And outside the Footsie, Marconi was again struggling, down 20%, or 2.17p at 8.83p ahead of its own figures on Thursday.

Tech shares were also on the back foot with Sage off 3¾p at 185½p, and ARM down ½p at 225p. But Logica began to bounce back from its recent woes, closing up 2p at 245p after losing 17% after an earnings warning on Friday.

Elsewhere, BSkyB fell 32p to 682p after reports at the weekend that the Government was considering a "satellite dish tax".

Granada also continued to fall, closing 4p lower at 134¼p, while FTSE 250 stock Carlton moved up 2½p to 272½p.