FTSE yoyos to start the day

The FTSE 100 was up 0.43 per cent at 9:22 BST after a hectic opening seeing rises, falls, rises and falls.

The biggest gain of the day was seen for Barclays – up 4.99 per cent – after the announcement of its rights issue.

Other banking stock followed suit with HBOS up 3.64 per cent and Royal Bank of Scotland up 3.19 per cent, while Standard Chartered rose 2.48 per cent.

Heading the firms falling was United Utilities – down 4.02 per cent – followed by Old Mutual down 3.66 per cent, after the insurer reported losses.

Miners Xstrata and Angle American fell 2.99 per cent and 2.51 per cent respectively, while Experian was down 2.61 per cent.

Eyes will now turn to the decision by the Federal Reserve on US interest rates this afternoon.

A hold in rates at two per cent is expected as the threat of inflation looms for the US economy – however a surprise shift in the cost of borrowing from the Fed is not being ruled out.