Wall Street ticked higher in early trades as the latest report on jobless claims turned out to be better than expected and retail sales improved.
The Dow Jones closed up 31.90 points at 8,770.92, the S&P 500 was up 5.74 at 944.89, and the Nasdaq was up 9.29 at 1,862.37.
A Labor Department report showed first-time jobless benefits claimants fell to 601,000, better than expectations. The Commerce Department said retail sales increased 0.5 per cent in May after two months of declines.
In the UK, RBS was the top riser among a buoyant banking sector on the back of news that it plans to hive off unprofitable business customers to a separate division. The sector in general enjoyed a rally on a note from JPMorgan that it remains overweight on investment and credit banks.
RBS was up 1.8p, or 5.75 per cent, to 39.7p. Barclays wasn’t far behind, up 16p or 5.55 per cent to 304.50p.
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The FTSE 100 index closed up just 25.12 points higher at 4,461.87 as banking sector gains were offset by falls in commodities.
Oil companies retreated after recent gains, despite oil prices rising for a third day, above $72 a barrel and hitting an eight-month high in New York on the back of a larger-than-expected drop in US crude inventories.
Royal Dutch Shell closed down 15p, or 0.89 per cent, to £16.69. Miner Vedanta Resources dropped 23p or 1.3 per cent to £17.47.
Findings from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), the leading economic think-tank, that the UK economy could emerge from recession soon gave strength to the pound. Sterling climbed to its highest level in more than six months to reach €1.174 compared with €1.167 previously.