FTSE

Charles MacKinnon, chief investment officer who runs over £200m at Thurleigh Investment Managers, talks to Emma Dunkley about understanding index construction and the risks associated with different ETFs

London shares fell in early trading as banks fell back after yesterday's gains.

Banks led the FTSE to an early gain in Thursday trade following reports the Bank of America (BoA) is poised to repay its $45bn US government debt.

The FTSE shed more than 21 points by lunchtime today following yesterday's brief rally, with banks taking the worst hit on continuing concerns over exposure to Dubai debt.

A sharp 1% rise for the Dow Jones in early trading has extended gains for the FTSE 100 this afternoon, as fears over Dubai debt exposures continued to wane.

London investors are still wary after last week's request by Dubai World for a six-month standstill on debt repayments raised concerns about possible default.

US shares dipped into negative territory in early trading as the after-shock of Dubai's debt mountain disclosure continued to shake world markets.

Fundamentally weighted indices perform better in emerging markets than capitalisation weighted indices, according to Research Affiliates chief investment officer Jason Hsu.

Trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) was brought to a standstill for more than three hours this afternoon as a result of a technical glitch.

European shares were lower this morning in early trading (FTSE Eurofirst 300 -0.6%; FTSE 100 -0.6%).