The blue chip FTSE 100 <.FTSE> index was up 0.6 percent following three days of losses.

Banking stocks, which are sensitive to interest rates as well as bond yields, sustained heavy losses like HSBC (>> HSBC Holdings), down 4.1 percent.

Barclays (>> Barclays), Royal Bank of Scotland (>> Royal Bank of Scotland Group), Standard Chartered (>> Standard Chartered) and Lloyds (>> Lloyds Banking Group) all down between 0.4 to 1.3 percent.

RSA Insurance (>> RSA Insurance Group) went down 1.7 percent while Provident (>> Provident Financial) and Prudential (>> Prudential) took more limited hits (0.2%).

Mining stocks BHP Billiton (>> BHP Billiton Plc) also posted a significant fall on the index as it traded ex-dividend.

Imperial Brands (>> Imperial Brands) led a rise in defensive, consumer-focused companies. Shares in the tobacco firm jumped nearly 2.8 percent after it sold part of its stake in Spanish logistics company Logista (>> Cia de Distribn Integral Logista Hldg SA).

Outside of the blue chips, a flurry of results saw some sizeable individual moves among British mid cap stocks, with shares in Bovis Homes (>> Bovis Homes Group) rising more than 10 percent to their highest level in more than two years after the housebuilder reported its half year results, and broker Numis upgraded the stock to "buy" from "add".

"The strategic review is being done at pace and tangible benefits will start to be delivered from H2 2017 onwards and this will result in much improved ROE (return on equity)," analysts at Numis said in a note.

"Bovis is returning excess capital to shareholders which we forecast will lead to it being the highest yielding stock in the sector," Numis analysts added.

(Reporting by Kit Rees; Editing by Toby Davis)

By Kit Rees