Morning Markets: Financials drive early gains in FTSE

Financial services firms helped the FTSE 100 Index make early gains on last nights 4,412 close. Avi...

Financial services firms helped the FTSE 100 Index make early gains on last nights 4,412 close. Aviva, HSBC Holdings and alternative investments specialists Man Group were among the top five performers, up 2.42% to 347.75p, 2.64% to 552.5p and 2.85% to 244.75p, respectively. The blue-chip index opened at 4,438, up 0.8% from Tuesday, but fell back in early trading to 4,427 by around 9am. But high street retailers Next, down 2.3% to 1,442p and Marks & Spencer, down 1.91% to 282p, were the bottom-performing stocks, despite the Dow Jones closing 196 points up yesterday, on the back of stron...