Banks, commodities pull FTSE up 0.8 percent

Britain's leading shares gained 0.8 percent by midday on Tuesday, buoyed by firmer commodity issues and by banks, with HSBC recovering its poise after sell-offing in the prior session on disappointing results.

Stable outlook for Israeli banking

The fundamental credit outlook for the Israeli banking sector is stable, reflecting expectations of healthy domestic economic growth in 2010, following a shallow contraction in 2008/2009, Moody's Investors Service said in its