FTSE 100

Cadbury is poised to be taken over by US food conglomerate Kraft after its board approved a new increased bid.

T.Bailey has gained FSA authorisation for its new passives-only global fund.

Early gains among major miners helped boost the FTSE by 34.93 points (0.64%) to 5508.41 in early trading.

The FTSE 100 opened slightly lower this morning after falls on Wall Street and in Asia, dipping 4.76 points (0.09%) to 5,493 in early trading.

Strong Christmas sales at Tesco helped keep the FTSE in the black with a slight rise of 0.02% to 5,539.38 in early trading.

Barclays Wealth has launched a FTSE 100 lock-in investment offering a potential 60% return.

The FTSE 100 recovered ground this morning after banking stocks took a battering following the Basel Committee's recommendation yesterday banks need to hold significantly more capital reserves to prevent another crisis.

Newcastle IS, the intermediary services division of Newcastle Building Society, has launched its new structured deposit with a guaranteed minimum return of 9% over five years.

Investec Structured Products has launched a new suite of eleven plans supported by a range of counterparties.

HSBC has listed its first ETFs in continental Europe on NYSE Euronext in Paris.