Dow Jones

The FTSE 100 index has dumped almost 3% in afternoon trading, crashing 170.7 points in the space of a couple of hours, after Wall Street took another nosedive over inflation concerns.

Stock markets are seeing renewed confidence today following the losses which prompted concerns over the last few days, as metal prices have recovered in Asia, and one of the major mining payers is bidding to buy a rival.

The FTSE 100 Index advanced for the first time in five days today led by HSBC Holdings after JPMorgan Chase lifted its price estimate for the stock.

The FTSE 100 has again slipped into negative territory, quickly erasing a higher start as investors seem to think it too early to call an end to the downtrend for equities, despite four days of heavy selling.

The FTSE 100 index nursed its worst two-day points fall in 3½ years today as heavyweight mining stocks, such as Xstrata extended their recent falls.

The FTSE 100 index has dumped a further 132 points or 2.1% in morning trading taking the benchmark to 5779.6 at 9.45am.

After yesterday's dramatic drop on the FTSE 100 index, stocks are making little headway this morning but are led by improved profits for ICI.

The FTSE 100 was up 28.4 points, 0.5 % to 6,127.6 as utilities are once again making their way up the FTSE 100 leaderboard, with Severn Trent and and Kelda Group both 1.9% higher at £11.97 and 786p respectively.

The FTSE 100 index has ended the day up 45.7 points or 0.75% higher to close at 6,089.8, as the index never really looked throughout the day as though it would retreat from its strong start on Wednesday morning.

The FTSE 100 has closed down 15.7 points at 6,000.80, as mining stocks declined amid speculation this year's gains for Europe's best-performing industry have overstated the potential for profit growth.