FTSE

Mining stocks continued recent their stellar form in London trading today, leading the FTSE 100 to a 42.9 point gain, or 0.68%, to 6349.1.

The FTSE took heart from a strong start on Wall Street to close the week up 106.80 or 1.74% at 6262.10.

The FTSE had a strong start to the day up 56.10 (0.91%) to 6211.40 driven by consolidation talks in the mining sector.

The FTSE 100 index looked perilously close to falling under 6000 on a day dominated by the high oil prices, closing Wednesday down 155.6 points, or 2.5%, to 6070.9.

The FTSE 100 is plummeting in morning trading, thumped again by a poor banking and finance sector. The index is currently on 6144.20, an 82.3 point drop, or 1.32%.

It was a tale of two sectors in London today, with financials keeping the FTSE 100 ahead of retreating miners.

The FTSE 100 has jumped in early morning trading as Standard Life and the financials dominate action.

Financials and miners were slammed in London today as the US banking sector took another hit.

The FTSE had a weak end to the day as gloomy news from the States pushed the index down 3.20 to 6381.90.

The FTSE fell sharply this morning on the back of bad news from the States where stocks plunged following the announcement Morgan Stanley lost $3.7bn (£1.8bn) as a result of sub-prime debt.