FTSE 100

The FTSE 100 was down in early trading as ongoing uncertainty about the Greek bailout hit markets and sent the euro lower against the dollar.

London shares moved higher in early trading, reacting to overnight gains in the US which benefitted from the successful IPO of social networking powerhouse LinkedIn.

European markets climbed this morning on news IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn had resigned following sex crime allegations.

The FTSE 100 has opened in positive territory after a commodities bounce-back lifted Wall Street yesterday.

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL

Banking shares led the FTSE 100 lower late morning after Lloyds Banking Group revealed it had set aside £3.2bn to compensate customers for missold payment protection insurance.

Declines in metals and other commodity prices have caused global indices to report losses for Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

The dollar has plummeted to a 16-month low against the euro as markets expect the Federal Reserve to signal it will hold interest rates.

The FTSE opened sharply higher in early trading on Wednesday following positive corporate earnings updates in the US and advancing metal prices.

Global markets have marginally recovered after yesterday's surprise Standard & Poor's downgrade of the outlook for US debt caused widespread falls.