FTSE 100

The FTSE 100 has opened 1% higher this morning, with Lloyds once again soaring after its double-digit climb yesterday.

The Dow Jones has tumbled in early trading, down 0.65% on the back of data showing US companies cut more jobs last month than economists estimated.

Lloyds Banking Group is supporting the flagging FTSE on the back of better-than-expected results, having posted a six-month loss of $4bn, £1bn lower than many analysts had forecast.

Jubilee Financial Products is delaying the strike date on its suite of four structured products until 25 September in anticipation of a market correction.

The Dow Jones has opened lower this morning following news US personal income has suffered the largest drop in four years.

The FTSE 100 rolled back some of yesterday's gains this morning, with Standard Chartered among the early casualties after announcing surprise plans to issue £1bn in new shares.

The FTSE 100 reached its highest level since October 2008 this afternoon, leaping more than 75 points to reach 4695.92 points.

Miners are leading the FTSE 100 higher this morning, as Barclays announced a near £3bn pre-tax profit for the first half of 2009.

Over the past few weeks, the UK market has been experiencing some broadening out, and we have seen the defensive sectors playing catch-up with good share price rises in tobacco and food producers, for example.

US shares gained as investors took heart from better-than-expected US GDP numbers showing the pace of economic decline is slowing.