Shares in British banks were mixed on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading HSBC was given an expression of confidence from Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs said that the market is currently underestimating the impact of HSBC's mix shift towards growth markets and reiterated that it rated HSBC shares as a "conviction buy".

In other news a U.S. Federal Judge ruled that the trustee for the brokerage arm of Lehman Brothers is entitled to $4 billion in margin assets in the legal wrangles between Barclays and Lehman.

By 13:00 shares in Lloyds Banking Group were up 1.63 per cent to 47.66 pence per share and RBS shares rose 0.84 per cent to 41.83 pence per share.

However Barclays shares declined 0.19 per cent to 263.50 pence per share and HSBC shares fell 0.27 per cent to 624.10 pence per share.

Overall the FTSE 100 was up 0.22 per cent to 5,875.84.

Barclays Goldman Sachs HSBC FTSE