FTSE 100 cheered by rate cut expectations

With the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee expected to announce a cut in rates by 25 percentage points to 5.5% at noon today, the FTSE 100 was in buoyant mood and able to shrug off another dull performance from US markets yesterday. At morning trade the FTSE 100 was up 45.2 points to 5580.9. A mix of gainers grace the leaders board, led by Railtrack, which bounced back from recent selling - shares gained 32p to 480p. Select technology and telecom stocks are having a good day too. Index heavyweight Vodafone put on 4.75p to 200.75p and Cable & Wireless improved 18p to 490...