Northern Rock discussions lift FTSE

Northern Rock is expectedly posting the best results, as it announced last night it was in preliminary discussions with prospective parties. The beleaguered lender is currently on 179.7, a jump of 16.6 points, or 10.18%. Invesco and Smiths Group are also doing well, up 6.10 to 669.5 and 4.61% to 1112 respectively. A gloomy outlook for UK electronic retailers has smashed DSG International this morning, it is down 7.6 points, or 5.63%, to 127.3. In New York, Wall Street closed slightly ahead as weak profit reports and low sentiment filtered through. The Dow Jones closed 19.59 points high...