Afternoon Markets: Dow rises despite Bernanke jobs prediction

The Dow Jones was up 50.03 points (0.57%) at 8898.18 this afternoon, following a volatile start to trading as US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke forecast unemployment would remain high into 2011.

Construction and mining equipment manufacturer Caterpillar is at the top of the leaderboard having announced better-than-expected second quarter results, with its share price leaping 11.62% to $40.91. Meanwhile, US lender CIT has seen its share price plummet 19.2% to $1.01 after saying it may need to file for bankruptcy if it cannot tender for notes maturing next month. In London, the FTSE 100 continues to charge higher, up 52.77 points (1.19%) to 4496.39. Supermarket Morrison is building on this morning’s gains following news of a rise in second-quarter sales, up 8.49% at 274.75p,...