FTSE soars past 6,000

After a positive Monday saw the FTSE shoot past the 6,000 mark, the index has now reached 6,059.6 as of 9.45am. Standard Chartered, up 87p to £16.67, and Alliance & Leicester, up 26.5p, or 4.77%, to 581.5p both head up the winner’s table, followed by Wolseley, Old Mutual and HSBC Holdings. However, gains are being stemmed by losses for clothes retailer Next, down 19p to £13.34, BSkyB and Shire. In the US, a strong day’s trading saw the Dow Jones climb 189.2 points, or 1.53%, to 12,570.22 at close of play Monday. There were no losers on a day which saw Alcoa, up 2.3 points, or 6.29%,...