Market Report: Banks help FTSE 100 index rally by 0.7pc Meanwhile, HSBC appeared to benefit from bullish comments from analysts at Citigroup. Analyst Ronit Ghose reiterated his 'buy' rating and 650p target price on the shares after the broker met with senior personnel from the banking giant. HSBC put on 3.9 to 540.9p. Fund managers also fared well, with emerging markets specialist Ashmore Group climbing 11 to 386p and Hargreaves Lansdown rising 16.9 to 463¾p. Elsewhere in the financial sector, insurers peppered the leaderboard as dealers' risk appetite returned. Aviva advanced 7.4 to 312.6p and Old Mutual increased 3.1 to 154.1p. Overall, the FTSE 100 moved 39.19 points higher to 5,634.74 and the FTSE 250 rose 97.84 points to 11,234.00 as fears over Spain and the Eurozone's economic problems receded. Will Hedden, a sales trader at IG Index said sentiment in the London market was helped by Spanish ministers going on the offensive to restore confidence in Madrid's austerity efforts and the ECB suggesting that it might step in to buy up Spanish bonds if it became necessary. G4S benefited from a Morgan Stanley upgrade to "overweight." David Hancock, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, saidG4S has had a strong period of contract wins ... and is materially enhancing its emerging market exposure with a Brazil platform. Despite this, the stock has been one of the weakest performers in Mr Hancock's coverage in the year-to-date, creating a buying opportunity ahead of catalysts in May. G4S put on 7 to 280.1p. Nomura advised investors to buy Royal Dutch Shell. The broker said there were several reasons investors should acquire the stock, including the fact that Shell has underperformed European markets and the oil sector by 15pc and 8pc respectively. Theepan Jothilingham, an analyst at Nomura, also said there are increasingly fewer attractive stories or entry points elsewhere in 'Big Oil' [large cap oil producers] and thinks there is a potential strong bounce back in first quarter numbers (due April 26) after a disappointing fourth quarter. Royal Dutch Shell improved 38½p to £21.85. BG Group also put on 21½p to £13.91 as UBS reiterated the company is one of its 'top picks' in the oil and gas sector. Johnson Matthey was helped 21p higher to £22.68 following the release of a bullish broker note from JP Morgan Cazenove. Analyst Martin Evans said: "We expect robust results, and an encouraging outlook, from Johnson Matthey on June 7, which should also reflect the positive trend shown elsewhere by a number of chemical companies in 2012." ITV edged up 0.8 to 83.1p as Panmure Gordon published a bullish note on the broadcaster. In a note entitled "summer of love," the broker raised its target price to 115p from 95p. Alex DeGroote, an analyst at Panmure Gordon, reckons the "market is underestimating the wall of advertising money which will hit ITV" and noted ITV Studios, the company's content producing arm, is "very undervalued." Smiths Group came third on the leaderboard, putting on 35p to £10.41. There didn't appear to be a good reason for yesterday's gains but the company is often touted as a 'break up' candidate by traders, especially after the company rejected a £2.45bn takeover offer for its medical devices division from buy-out firm Apax in 2011. On a less positive tack, BT Group dropped 5.4 to 213.2p after JP Morgan Cazenove downgraded the stock. Following its strong share price performance (over 20pc over six months), JP Morgan Cazenove said it is downgrading BT Group to 'neutral' because of the risk revenues may disappoint the market. "While we remain positive on a longer-term view, regulatory drags in Openreach from April may contribute to 2012/2013 revenue guidance being reduced at the full-year results on May 10, while hopes for a dividend "hike" may be disappointed," said analyst Carl Murdock-Smith. Randgold Resources retreated 20p to £54.05 despite a Thomson Reuters survey expecting the eurozone crisis to push gold price back up towards $2,000 an ounce late in the year. However, second liner Petropavlovsk, the Russian gold mining company, rose 15.3 to 501½p. Michael Page was the worst performing stock in the FTSE 250 index, falling 16.1 to 437.8p, following its first-quarter results. Paul Jones, an analyst at Panmure Gordon, said the first-quarter results gave little clarity on how the year is likely to pan out. Futura Medical slid 1½ to 99½p in spite of fresh rumours Reckitt Benckiser, manufacturer of Durex condoms, will pay 169p a share for maker of an innovative new condom product. Reckitt, up 38p to £35.04, is Futura's distribution partner for the company's new condom and is rumoured to have already approached the Aim-listed business about a takeover. Elsewhere, SkyePharma rose 1¾ to 36.8p amid news that it has signed a second agreement to conduct a feasibility study with RespiVert to develop a dry powder inhaler. The project is aimed at developing new therapeutic options for patients living with severe, chronic respiratory diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and severe asthma.