FTSE 100 up slightly

The FTSE 100 was up 0.13 per cent in early trading on Friday.

At 09:07 BST, the index was at 5,161.17 – gaining 6.53 points. Leading the drops was Lloyds Banking – falling 1.36 per cent to 93.03p.

The lender suffered on reports the Treasury was investigating whether it and Royal Bank of Scotland were maintaining their pledges on lending.

Further reports of a Lloyds Banking rights issue being in the offing to avoid the government's asset protection scheme also brought down the lender's share price.

Eurasian was down 1.33 per cent, Autonomy fell 1.18 per cent, Standard Chartered dropped 1.02 per cent and Antofagasta slid 0.96 per cent.

Leading the gains in early trading was Whitbread.

The firm was aided by an upgrade from Barclays Capital and earning increases for US rival Marriot.

B&Q owner Kingfisher rose 2.47 per cent while rival Wolseley gained 2.32 per cent.

Rexam gained 2.25 per cent and InterContinental Hotels followed Whitbread up 2.09 per cent.

Last night in the US, the Dow Jones rose 0.63 per cent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.75 per cent.

In Europe this morning, muted gains were also seen with the Dax up 0.15 per cent and the Cac40 gaining 0.10 per cent.