MarketPulse Europe: British Banks Mostly Higher Amid Brexit Drama
Investing.com - British bank stocks were mostly higher in European midday trade on Wednesday, with market participants assessing their options after British lawmakers overwhelmingly defeated Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal by a historic margin.
A defeat had largely been priced in already, though the magnitude of the loss - a margin of 230 - came as a surprise.
May's government now faces a no confidence vote to be held at 2:00PM ET (19:00 GMT).
Many investors expect May to survive and to subsequently pursue delaying the planned March 29 deadline for when the U.K. is supposed to officially leave the European Union.
The FTSE 350 Banks Index was up around 0.4% in London by 6:40AM ET (11:40 GMT), as investors bet that a disruptive no-deal Brexit was less likely after the parliamentary vote.
Metro Bank PLC (LON:MTRO) led gains, with shares up 3.5%.
Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON:LLOY) climbed 1.7% and 1.2% respectively, while Barclays (LON:BARC) inched up 0.2%.
Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) saw shares lag behind however, falling 1.3%.
-- Reuters contributed to this report
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