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		</div><p>European banks struggled to make gains on Thursday as investors digested the prospect of a state bailout for struggling Italian lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS).</p>
<p>The FTSE 100 was trading lower by 0.1% at around 7,034 points, dragged down by the likes of Barclays, which was down 0.6%, and Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC which were each down 0.3%.</p>
<p>The banking sector was feeling the knock-on effects of a rollercoaster ride in BMPS shares, which were suspended after plunging 6% following the market opening, but were trading higher by 2.5% hours later.</p>
<p>The world&#8217;s oldest bank saw its shares plunge 17% a day earlier after warning it could run out of cash within four months if it failed to secure fresh capital.</p>
<p>But Italian legislators have since approved a 20 billion euro (£16.9 billion) rescue plan for some of the country&#8217;s weakest banks, including BMPS.</p>
<p>Connor Campbell, a financial analyst at SpreadEx, said the bank was &#8220;rapidly running out of time&#8221; to raise the 5 billion euros (£4.2 billion) it &#8220;desperately needs&#8221;.</p>
<p><i>&#8220;It&#8217;s only managed 2 billion euros so far, with a key Qatari investor choosing not to invest a 1 billion euro chunk &#8211; it looks like MPS will be forced into a government bailout.&#8221;</i></p>
<p>Italy&#8217;s FTSE MIB was higher by 0.5%, while the French Cac 40 was up 0.1%, and the German Dax was flat.</p>
<p>Sterling dipped 0.35% to a two-week low against the euro at 1.180, and dropped 0.1% against the US dollar to 1.233.</p>
<p>That is despite slightly better-than-expected UK consumer confidence figures, with the GfK index coming in at minus 7 for December despite expectations for minus 9.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the latest survey from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) showed that private sector growth hit a one-year high thanks to a pick-up in manufacturing activity, but warned of a &#8220;significant&#8221; slowdown in the year ahead.</p>
<p>In oil markets, Brent crude was down 0.2% at 54.30 US dollars (£44.01) per barrel after data showed that US crude inventories rose more than expected last week.</p>
<p>In UK stocks, London-listed Indian online fashion retailer Koovs fell 7.6% as the company reported a £9.1 million half-year loss compared with £5.7 million last year.</p>
<p>Koovs said the loss was expected as it continues to increase investment in marketing and technology.</p>
<p>Shares in HSS Hire rose 0.9% after the tool supplier said it would raise £13 million through a share sale to strengthen its balance sheet and fund investment.</p>
<p>The firm, which was forced to issue a profit warning last month, is in the middle of a transformation programme which will see the integration of a new national distribution and engineering centre.</p>
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