Sector movers: Banks and life insurers pace advance

Banks and life insurers lent their heft to the advance in London's top-tier index as government bond yields on both sides of the Atlantic climbed higher.

To take note of, UK financials are highly sensitive to what occurs in US rates.

As expected, the Bank of England stayed put on policy on Thursday, even as it sounded a slightly more upbeat note on the outlook for the economy than it did in February.

Significantly, Bank also took the stance that quicker near-term inflation would be driven chiefly by negative base effects and the recent rise in crude oil prices, but that "these developments should have few direct implications for inflation over the medium term".

"The Committee does not intend to tighten monetary policy at least until there is clear evidence that significant progress is being made in eliminating spare capacity and achieving the 2% inflation target sustainably," Bank added.

But for some market pundits, rate-setters chose not to 'push back' on higher bond yields.

Top performing sectors so far today

Industrial Metals & Mining 6,059.57 +2.80%

Banks 2,928.65 +1.71%

Life Insurance 8,264.95 +1.70%

Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,932.28 +1.66%

Mining 23,844.74 +1.46%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 4,935.96 -2.05%

Food & Drug Retailers 4,154.00 -1.38%

Food Producers 7,507.43 -1.15%

Real Estate Investment Trusts 2,779.14 -0.94%

Oil & Gas Producers 5,314.46 -0.86%