FTSE 100 movers: Shell boosted by Alaskan exploration approval, banks higher

Oil major Shell was making gains after being given the green light by the US government to restart an exploration campaign in the Alaskan Arctic.

Imperial Tobacco rebounded from Tuesday's losses, which were driven by concerns that the Lorrillard-Reynolds merger will fall apart.

Banks such as Barclays, Lloyds and RBS were performing well after Morgan Stanley said quantitative easing in the Eurozone could help banking commission and trading income. Lloyds was also benefiting from a ratings upgrade to 'hold' by Jefferies who forecast a "more meaningful dividend" this year.

Friends Life recovered from Tuesday's losses, which were prompted by its partnership structure “Value Share” selling £164m of shares in UK insurer Aviva.

Kingfisher retreated from strong gains made on the announcement of 60 store closures on Tuesday, part of chief executive Veronique Laury's plans for a “very different” company.

Miners Glencore, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were also trading in the red following China's lackluster factory data, released overnight.

Risers
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,220.00p +2.78%
Barclays (BARC) 248.80p +2.56%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,036.00p +2.46%
Fresnillo (FRES) 698.00p +2.27%
BG Group (BG.) 846.20p +2.07%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,789.00p +2.05%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 621.50p +2.05%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,137.50p +1.83%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 79.56p +1.64%
BP (BP.) 443.30p +1.51%

Fallers
Kingfisher (KGF) 369.90p -2.81%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,225.00p -2.61%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,089.00p -1.45%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,081.50p -1.10%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,648.00p -0.90%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 530.50p -0.84%
3i Group (III) 478.90p -0.73%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 409.70p -0.73%
Whitbread (WTB) 5,210.00p -0.67%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 525.00p -0.66%