Nikkei

The FTSE 100 was up 11 this morning at 5,613 points, with financials peppering both sides of the gainers and losers tables.

The FTSE opened higher this morning at 5,555.68, up 28.52 (0.52%), following gains in Asia and the United States overnight.

Miners continue to lead the FTSE 100 into positive territory after rising copper prices led to a strong showing yesterday.

Mining shares helped the FTSE 100 jump more than 56.81 points (1.1%) to 5,411.33 in early trading after copper prices hit a five-week high following the earthquake in Chile.

The FTSE opened sharply higher today at 5329.29, up 51.07 (0.97%), following a slight recovery on Wall Street after disastrous early trading yesterday.

The FTSE was flat in early trading Thursday despite a positive outlook from defence contractor BAE Systems.

To what extent does Japan still merit its place in your portfolio?

Shares fell in London this morning with miners losing ground after high metal prices increased their value earlier this week.

The FTSE 100 opened slightly down, dipping 0.02% or 0.84 points to 5,246 in early trading, as BP posted worse then expected fourth quarter results.

In London, markets opened lower this morning as fears grew over the impact of banking regulation.