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London’s banking stocks continued their good run on Thursday, helping keep the FTSE 100 within reach of the 6,100-point mark.

The strong showing, sparked by well-received earnings news from Barclays on Tuesday, moved into a third consecutive session amid lingering optimism ahead of further earnings reports from the sector due next week.

Royal Bank of Scotland was the biggest single gainer on the leaderboard, up 3.6 per cent at 48.9p. Lloyds Banking Group was in second place, up 2.6 per cent at 68.9p, helped by a “buy” rating on the stock from anlaysts at Nomura. Barclays was third, rising 1.8 per cent to 337.9p, its best level since August. HSBC rose 1.5 per cent to 732.5p.

The gains in one of the London market’s most heavily-weighted sectors kept its benchmark index steady at 6,082.97, within sight of 6,100, a level last seen in May 2008.

“It does seem like the market is pausing for breath, as opposed to losing faith with the upward trend,” said Cameron Peacock, market analyst at IG Markets. “Eurozone debt worries are in check, China’s growth shows no signs of derailing and US interest rates remain low.”

But one of the London market’s other heavily-weighted sectors prevented it from making further progress. Miners provided the counterweight to momentum, tracking softer metals prices on commodities exchanges, where copper contracts hit two-week lows. Xstrata was the sector’s biggest single faller, down 3.3 per cent at £14.29. BHP Billiton was 1.7 per cent weaker at £24.22.

BAE Systems, the defence engineering company, fell 3.4 per cent to 343.5p after it warned that sales could fall in 2011 as it reported a 0.8 per cent rise in earnings for 2010.

Reed Elsevier was not far behind. Although the publisher of the Lancet and other scientific and academic journals said it expected a gradual recovery in 2011 and that its sales had risen in line with forecasts, there was little within its numbers to excite investors. The shares fell 2 per cent to 582½p.

Lower down the market, there were strong gains for Sports Direct, the retailer, after it said it would meet its profit target for the year. The shares rose 4.3 per cent to 174.7p and the top of the FTSE 250.

Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at ETX Capital, said: “Sports Direct continues to race ahead of its rivals. While others teeter on the brink, Sports Direct reported higher sales from October through to January, proving the bad weather didn’t affect every retailer equally. With the Olympics only a year away, the retailer is likely to benefit strongly from any increased consumer spending.”

Overall, the mid-cap index slipped 7 points to 11,800,0, a fall of 0.1 per cent.