London’s equities markets saw gains on the session Wednesday.
The FTSE 100 was 0.27 percent higher to 6,633 and the FTSE 250 gained 0.74 percent to 11,512.1.
In the banking sector, Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) added 32.29 percent to 273p after a hedge fund based in Monaco purchased a 4 percent stake in the troubled financial institution.
Other banks did not do as well on the day.
Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) was down 1.5 percent to 655.5p, while HBOS (LSE: HBOS) fell 3.09 percent to 926p after Lehman Brothers downgraded the bank from “overweight” to “underweight” and dropped its target share price from £10.46 to £10.28.
Voting shares in investment manager Schroders (LSE: SDR.L) added 5.71 percent to £15, while non-voting shares (LSE: SDRt.L) were up 4.27 percent to £12.94.
Business services group Experian (LSE: EXPN) had the worst day on the 100, where it fell 7 percent to 505p.
In the pharmaceuticals sector, meanwhile, Shire (LSE: SHP; NAS: SHPGY) dropped 2.1 percent to £12.15.
Reinsurer Benfield Group (LSE: BFD) was 2.83 percent lower to 724.25p, while construction group Severfield-Rowen (LSE: SFR) fell 2.65 percent to 552p.