ClickAJob News

The FTSE 100 started trading today with a drop – but the index has slowly been making its way back to opening level.

At 08:52 BST the index stood at 4,239.35 – a drop of 4.36 points or 0.10 per cent.

In New York last night, the Dow Jones was down 0.22 per cent as the bankruptcy of Chrysler hit automakers but was largely taken by traders in their stride.

The S&P 500 in Chicago was down 0.10 per cent.

Overnight in Asia, the Nikkei was up 1.69 per cent – despite the country officially falling into deflation. April's gains for the Nikkei were the largest monthly rise – 8.9 per cent – in a year.

Back in London, miners provided the backbone for a mixed bag of gains and losses.

Royal Bank of Scotland was up 4.07 per cent to 43.50p, while miners Vedanta and Lonmin rose 3.54 per cent and 2.02 per cent respectively.

Argos owner Home Retailer rose 2.09 per cent and Legal & General gained 1.89 per cent.

Leading the drops was insurer Old Mutual – dropping 3.07 per cent, while Barclays was down 2.58 per cent and Land Securities lost 2.49 per cent.

Schroders and Schroders Non-Voting stock fell 2.36 per cent and 2.86 per cent respectively.