FTSE 100 rises on opening

FTSE 100 was up 0.21 per cent at 9:20 BST as an initial morning jump settled.

The index now stands at 5541.60 – up 11.70 points.

Biggest gains came for miner Rio Tinto – up 1.78 per cent – after speculation Lakshmi Mittal, head of steel maker ArcelorMittal was looking at a takeover bid.

Vodafone rose 1.62 per cent on plans for a share sell off in its Qatar unit.

Xstrata was up 1.53 per cent, SABMiller rose 1.52 per cent and ICAP rose 1.51 per cent.

The biggest loser early on was ITV falling 4.42 per cent – following on from last week's decline.

British Airways fell 2.46 per cent while Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland were down 2.35 per cent and 2.18 per cent respectively.

Outside the FTSE 100, Southern Cross Healthcare fell 83.15 per cent as it announced occupancy rate targets would be missed due to late government funding of local authorities.

Trinity Mirror was down 30.20 per cent and Johnston Press fell 12,28 per cent, while builders Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Developments dipped 5.65 per cent and 3.92 per cent.