FTSE 100 falls back down

The FTSE 100 fell over one per cent on opening to 5567.30.

At 9:05 BST the index stood down 1.04 per cent with retailer Kingfisher leading the drop.

The B&Q owner slipped 4.27 per cent after poor results from Carpetright put the whole sector in a bad light.

Builders merchant Wolseley was also down 3.59 per cent.

Prudential fell 3.56 per cent while ICAP and Experian were down 3.41 per cent and 3.21 per cent respectively.

Among the risers, medical suppler Reckitt Benckiser was up 1.96 per cent, as traders turned to what they see as a safe haven.

Vodafone, BT and Cable & Wireless all rose 1.81 per cent, 1.55 per cent and 0.53 per cent on a good day for communications.

Oil services firm John Wood rose 1.21 per cent.

Outside the top 100 shares, Barratt Developments made somewhat of a comeback, rising 7.33 per cent.

Meanwhile, Carpetright fell 6.97 per cent, HMV fell 6.76 – despite promising results – and Bovis Homes was down 5.07 per cent.
Despite early falls, there is some optimism in the markets.

Tom Hougaard at city Index said before opening: "The Dow was full of euphoria initially, but settled just three points into the black. However overnight news has pushed the index higher again.

"Asia is positive too, so we are expecting markets to at least flirt with positive territory initially."