Nasdaq

The FTSE 100 index has made gains this morning for the first time in three days, on the back of recent news for AstraZeneca and Cairn Energy.

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has again rejected Nasdaq's bid for the business by arguing it substantially undervalues the company.

The Nasdaq has made a second bid for the London Stock Exchange (LSE) valued at £2.7bn.

The FTSE 100 index is up this morning, rising 22 points or 0.36% to 6,230 led by a flurry of potential takeovers in the energy, finance and media sectors.

Fears about the introduction of price controls on drugs in the US have pushed the FTSE 100 index down this morning, as such a move is likely to have an impact of the profitability of GlaxoSmithKline.

The FTSE 100 index is struggling to stay afloat this morning on anticipation of a Bank of England base rate rise at noon today and results figures from BT.

Standard Life sales and the outcome of the US mid-term elections are dragging the FTSE 100 index down this morning.

Retail therapy was the order of the day on the FTSE 100 index by the end of Tuesday, superseding the strong gains felt earlier for commodity and oil stocks along with losses at Yell.

The FTSE 100 index is struggling to make any headway this morning, even though oil and metal prices are up again and Marks & Spencer has seen improved profits.

UK stocks are not faring too well this morning as BA has reported lower than expected profits and a falling copper price is affecting mining firms.