Dow Jones

Having rallied strongly just prior to close of play last night the Dow Jones looks set to finish the week below the 8,000 mark.

The FTSE 100 was up marginally this morning by 0.60% by 8:44am with the London Stock Exchange Group regaining 3.73% of its 6% losses of yesterday.

The FTSE 100 was flat this morning as extreme weather conditions continued to plague the capital and affected many transport links.

The Dow Jones saw its fifth consecutive day of losses yesterday, falling 25 points to close at 8449, as investors were spooked by yesterday's speech by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke.

The FTSE 100 opened 2009 in positive territory with a rise of 15.07, up 0.34% to 4449.24 by 09.00 GMT.

Mining stocks lead the way in London this morning as the FTSE 100 begins trading higher after the four-day break, up 89.04 points, or 2.11%, to 4,305.63.

London markets were boosted by oil companies this afternoon after a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast rising demand in 2009.

A cooling off in demand for insurance stocks dragged the FTSE 100 down by over 0.5% to below 4,360 upon opening this morning.

London trading worsened as Friday afternoon as after figures revealed more half a million jobs were cut in the US in November.

Beleaguered fund manager New Star's share price has plummeted again this morning as investors are left reeling from another dire 24-hours for global stock markets.