FTSE soars after late Dow rally

Wolseley was approaching an 8% climb shortly after 9.30am as the blue-chip index made its way over 4,220, a gain of 1.77%. Prudential, which has this morning rubbished solvency fears, is toasting a 7.5% rise, while Aviva, Lloyds TSB and HBOS are also making significant gains. Near 6% losses for Kingfisher plus moderate slips by Standard Chartered and Antofagasta are hampering the FTSE's progress however. US stocks soared on Wednesday as confidence in Barack Obama's economic team grew. The Dow Jones fell just short of a 3% climb as the index climbed more than 240 points to reach 8,72...