Shares in British banks were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading as investors started to regain some confidence.

Since the beginning of the year there have been serious concerns that Portugal's debt will once again plunge the eurozone into a bailout crisis.

Reports began circulating that Germany and France were pressuring Portugal to accept a bailout. The Portuguese government however denied that it needed a bailout.

Such denials did little to ease investor confidence as they were also made by the Irish government in the week before it was forced into an EU/IMF bailout. A successful debt auction last week did help to ease investor concerns however, if only for the time being.

By 10:20 shares in Lloyds Banking Group were up 1.35 per cent to 69.02 pence per share, RBS shares increased 1.25 per cent to 42.81 pence per share, Barclays shares increased 1.57 per cent to 311.40 pence per share and HSBC shares climbed 1.12 per cent to 711.40 pence per share.

Overall the FTSE 100 was up 1.04 per cent to 6,047.74.

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