FTSE jumps 2% as ECB plans cheer investors

The FTSE 100 has risen 2.1% and yields on benchmark Italian government debt have touched five-month lows as markets react positively to the ECB's bond-buying plans.

European Central Bank president Mario Draghi announced potentially unlimited bond purchase plans this afternoon, helping fuel a rally that began in force last month when he said the euro was "irreversible". Yields on Italian ten-year government debt fell to 5.34%, the lowest level since April, in response to the ECB's announcement. Spanish ten-year yields dropped back to the 6% mark, having stood at over 7.5% earlier this summer. Equity markets extended earlier gains, the FTSE rising 2.1% to 5,778, having earlier been up 0.7%, helped by better than expected jobs data in the US. The...