FTSE

Shares pulled back further on Wednesday following a blow for miners and lacklustre performances on Wall Street and in Asia.

The FTSE 100 remains marginally in the red this afternoon, with miners dragging on the index.

The FTSE leapt to a six-month high on Thursday thanks to bumper corporate results across Europe and the US and a strong showing from miners.

The index of 100 leading shares has closed down on the day, with major insurers the biggest drag on markets.

The FTSE opened at 5,727 this morning, sliding 0.08% in early trading, although there was a raft of M&A activity among the UK's largest companies.

The FTSE continued to feed off global optimism in early trading on Thursday, extending yesterday's 1.5% gain.

Reasons to be cheerful about the UK market

The FTSE finished at its highest closing level in more than five months today as investors were buoyed by the prospect of further fiscal stimulus in the US.

The FTSE climbed 1.1% this morning to 5724.37 after rumours of more quantitative easing from the Federal Reserve gained momentum last night.

The FTSE has powered higher this morning feeding off a healthy end to trading on Wall Street last week.