Shares in British banks were mixed on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the G7 said it would take action to help the Yen, following the disaster which struck Japan a week ago and is still crippling the nation.

The G7 said it would intervene in currency markets in a bid to help Japan recover from the disaster, which has seriously threatened Japan's economic recovery.

The news sent the Yen down and appeared to have mixed results for shares in British banks.

By 10:05 shares in Lloyds Banking Group were down 0.25 per cent to 59.22 pence per share and Barclays shares declined 1.02 per cent to 280.65 pence per share.

RBS shares however increased 0.12 per cent to 40.90 pence per share and HSBC shares climbed 0.29 per cent to 628.40 pence per share.

Overall the FTSE 100 was up 0.55 per cent to 5,727.58.

Barclays HSBC FTSE Japan