FTSE 100

Cadbury is poised to be taken over by US food conglomerate Kraft after its board approved a new increased bid.

Early gains among major miners helped boost the FTSE by 34.93 points (0.64%) to 5508.41 in early trading.

The FTSE 100 opened slightly lower this morning after falls on Wall Street and in Asia, dipping 4.76 points (0.09%) to 5,493 in early trading.

Strong Christmas sales at Tesco helped keep the FTSE in the black with a slight rise of 0.02% to 5,539.38 in early trading.

The UK Structured Products Association debunks some common myths about structured products

US shares fell in early trading on the back of interest rate concerns following the Chinese Central Bank's decision to increase its inter-bank rate for the first time in four months.

Miners are pulling down London's main index in early trading, offsetting strong demand for supermarket groups.

The Dow Jones opened trading in the red on the back of disappointing employment figures showing the number out of work increased to 84,000 in December.

US stocks reached 15-month highs on Monday, with both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 up at least 1.5% on the first trading day of 2010.

The FTSE 100 has climbed to a fresh 15-month high of 5,451.79 this morning, with the 0.72% rise continuing the strong gains posted over the festive period.