FTSE 100 registers gains ahead of unemployment figures

The FTSE 100 continued to build on gains made on Tuesday to open this morning up over a third of a per cent.

At 09:05 GMT the London index stood at 5,637.7 – a rise of 17.27 points or 0.31 per cent.

Leading the gains in early trading was Kingfisher, the DIY group which owns B&Q, which rose 2.29 per cent to 228.1p.

Fresnillo and Wolseley also performed strongly, rising 2.24 per cent and 1.52 per cent respectively.

Security group G4S suffered the worst slump in the first hour, slipping 3.86 per cent to 258.8p, despite posting a ten per cent rise in profits.

Thomas Cook Group and Man Group also fell by similar amounts, down 3.69 per cent and 3.61 per cent.

Elsewhere, traders will be keeping a keen eye on the UK unemployment statistics due out later this morning.