Footsie rallies with aid of banks and insurers

The FTSE 100 Index is up 63.4 points at 3547.2 thanks to rises in banking, telecom and drug stocks.

Among the banks, Barclays is up 17.75p at 346.5p, Lloyds TSB has risen 7.25p to 377.75p, Royal Bank of Scotland has climbed 30p to 1330p and HBOS is ahead 15.5p to 553.5p.