FTSE rises on crunch week for Eurozone

The FTSE 100 ticked higher in early trade on Monday as investors hoped that a make or break week for the Eurozone will be successful

The blue-chip index was up 0.07% to 5556.3 at 0930 as French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel prepared to meet to outline joint proposals for more coercive budget discipline in the Euro zone, which they want all 27 EU leaders to approve at the summit.

Sentiment was given a lift after Italy unveiled austerity steps on Sunday.

The optimistic tone picked up from where it left off on Friday, when the US unemployment rate fell and Germany and France pushed for greater fiscal union in the euro area.

Banks continued their rise, with Lloyds leading the pack with a 5.3% gain to 27.79. Royal Bank of Scotland jumped 4.7% to 22.65p and Barclays rose 3.9% to 198.05.

Deutsche Bank said it remained positive on UK domestic banks in the long term, given low valuations relative to managements' and its own forecasts, strong domestic retail businesses, cost-cutting potential, and the more favourable position of the UK economy relative to parts of Europe.

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