London’s main share index rose in morning trade, with banks once again keeping prominent slots on the leaderboard. However, much of the rally fizzled out as the day went on amid tax raids of a number of French banks, leaving the FTSE around where it started the day.
Elsewhere, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey appeared before MPs on the rescue of the UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank.
Investors were absorbing trading updates from Ocado, as well as full-year results from housebuilder Bellway and Irn Bru maker AG Bell.
But there were signs that inflation may yet to have peaked from shop price data from the British Retail Consortium.
