Footsie posts modest gain after subdued trade

From midday onwards the FTSE 100 held onto a modest gain which maintained its four day rally that's seen the index recover 5% from the 33 month low it hit in July. Even so, the index is still off nearly 11% so far this year. After a subdued day's trade the FTSE 100 had 60 gainers and 35 losers but there were few obvious sector trends. The index finished up 17.8 points to 5546.9. Gains among the FTSE 100 were capped at just under 6% by telecom equipment group Spirent, up 11.75p to 200.75p. Invensys followed with a gain of 4p to 89p. FTSE 100 losers were capped at a 4.5% los...