Dow Jones

UK stocks have reversed some of yesterday's losses, sending the FTSE 100 Index up about 14 points to 4,837.

In London, stock markets closed the day down after news revealing a rise of UK inflation rates in December for the third month in a row.

Ripping results published by Tesco for the Christmas trading period failed to help the UK benchmark FTSE 100 index, which has shed about 18 points to 4,828 this morning.

The UK's benchmark FTSE 100 index closed the week 20.5 points higher to 4820.8 points, on the news prices for commodities will increase throughout the year in the mining industry.

The FTSE 100 index remained steady to the end of trading on Thursday as the Bank of England held the base interest rate at the same level of 4.75%.

In the UK, trading has started well, boosted by a good performance in the US market.

The UK's FTSE 100 index has closed lower for a third consecutive day.

The FTSE 100 index did have a bad day of trading, as predicted this morning, but it was eventually as a result of reduced confidence in life insurers rather than in the worst seasonal December sales for 10 years.

Expectations of poor retailing figures covering the Christmas period look set to push the FTSE lower today, with the index down a fraction at about 4,840 so far.

The FTSE 100 Index has shed 13.4 points to 4,840.7 at its close.