FTSE 100 rises sharply on Japanese rally

The FTSE 100 soared almost 100 points in its first few minutes of trading after an overnight rally on the Japanese stock market.

Japan's Nikkei 225 closed up 6.4 per cent, gaining 459.02 to close at 7,621.92 in Tokyo.

The bounce followed a 26-year low when the index dropped briefly below the 7,000 mark – prompting investors to snap up shares considered to be 'bargains', while a ban on short-selling improved confidence.

The jump helped lift the UK's benchmark index this morning, which continued yesterday's rally.

By 08:24 BST, the index was 2.41 per cent higher as several of yesterday's losers, including energy, mining and insurance stocks, turned their fortunes around.

A positive recommendation from UBS helped raise shares in Old Mutual by 13.65 per cent, while Aviva was up 8.97 per cent.

Xstrata rose 8.67 per cent, Rio Tinto was up 7.04 per cent and HSBC recovered, rising 6.67 per cent.

However, several of the stocks that have been performing well in the recent climate of investor fear – including utilities, consumer goods firms and pharmaceuticals – fell this morning.

Tesco shares fell 3.78 per cent, United Utilities was down 2.07 per cent, Diageo dropped 1.45 per cent and AstraZeneca declined 1.39 per cent in early trading.