Banks keep FTSE buoyant on Spain bailout hopes

LONDON, Oct 17: Britain�s top share index advanced on Wednesday, building on the previous session�s strong gains, as investors grew increasingly confident that Spain was edging closer to asking for a bailout.The FTSE 100 was up 12.81 points, or 0.2 percent, at 5,883.35 by 0715 GMT, having jumped 1.1 percent on Tuesday with traders citing a media report that Germany could adopt a softer approach towards financial aid to Spain.Banks, the top performers on Tuesday, helped support the index, which was ahead by 0.5 percent.�We think that we�ll see follow-through for the next couple of days,� Joe Rundle, head of trading at ETX Capital,� said.�Our clients have been short pretty much for the last two months and we�ve seen them pile in, close their shorts and go long in the last few days, so it�s a big momentum switch for us. It doesn�t happen that often.� (AGENCIES)