The FTSE 100 opened at 5,211, rising close to 6 points or 0.11% in early trading following a flurry of M&A activity.

UK public sector borrowing fell to £3.8bn in July, down from £6.1bn in July 2009, suggesting the nation's finances are starting to recover.

Skandia has handed three fixed interest mandates within its multi-manager funds from Threadneedle to Nordea.

Eurozone annual inflation hit a 20-month high in July at 1.7%, figures from Eurostat show.

The Bank of England has revised down its forecast for UK economic growth and expects inflation to remain above the 2% target until the end of next year.

The Bank of England has revised down its forecast for UK economic growth and expects inflation to remain above the 2% target until the end of next year.

The employment rate in the UK rose 0.3% or 184,000 between the first and second quarters of this year, the largest quarterly increase since 1989.

BP has recorded a $17bn (£11bn) loss over the second quarter, one of the largest corporate losses in British history.

UK GDP increased by a surprise 1.1% in the second quarter, almost double the consensus estimate.

Public sector net borrowing hit £14.5bn in June, marginally below the shortfall of £14.7bn one year earlier but still worse than economists had expected.