Morning markets: FTSE boosted by BSkyB

The FTSE rose by 0.3%, or 14 points, to 5686.32 this morning, buoyed by fighting talk from British Sky Broadcasting.

The broadcaster rose 3% to 599.5p on reports it will appeal an Ofcom demand to offer its sports channels to competitors at 24% below wholesale prices. Unilever, which was upgraded from 'neutral' to 'buy' by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, also rose, by 1.5% to £19.41. Compass Group was up 1.4% at 534p after announcing second quarter sales growth of 1.5% on the back of new contracts. Among the fallers, Segro fell furthest, by 2.5% to 320.6p after going ex-dividend. Platinum producer Lonmin also fell, by 1.1% to £20.27, despite saying a furnace leak in South Africa would not hit ea...