FTSE up early on in trading
London shares had a volatile start today, as investors remained cautious following sharp sell-offs seen yesterday.
After an hour’s trading the FTSE 100 Index was up 26.6 points at 3840.1, reversing an initial 49-point slide into the red.
Yesterday stocks plummeted towards the 3,800 mark as poor corporate updates from America and concerns about the potential for a US strike against Iraq continued to weigh on shares.
Wall Street closed sharply lower last night, partly due to a warning from IT outsourcing group Electronic Data Systems and poor economic data.
The slide made traders in London nervous this morning, but despite the initial sell-off shares managed to repair some of yesterday’s losses.
Oil groups edged higher following yesterday’s falls, with BP up 8p at 441p and Shell rising 4p at 388p.
Defence group BAE Systems, which slumped more than 13% yesterday, put on 4p to 177p.
