The FTSE 100 held firm on Wednesday morning following gains of over two per cent yesterday.

The index stood at 5,141.63 at 09:13 BST – a rise of 3.65 points or 0.07 per cent.

Last night, the Dow was up 1.37 per cent, as was the S&P 500.

In London Kingfisher led the gains up 3.80 per cent as it saw upgrades from UBS and Morgan Stanley.

InterContinental Hotels rose 3.13 per cent, Fresnillo gained 2.67 per cent and Severn Trent climbed 2.46 per cent.

Sainsbury led the drops down 3.53 per cent despite reporting a like-for-like sales increase of 5.4 per cent in the second quarter as it warned market growth would slow.

Admiral Group fell 3.20 per cent, Smith & Nephew was down 2.17 per cent and Inmarsat slid 1.47 per cent.

Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index, explained the last 48 hours on the markets have been "remarkable" showing "despite the alarmingly weak economic data of last week and poor UK production figures today, sentiment remains strong and investors are refusing to let go of the recovery grip".

He added: "The speed of the turnaround in the markets over the last 48 hours will concern many who will question the sustainability of equity gains that may have superseded economic data.

"However, the vigour of investors to buy equities badly beaten last week has inspired confidence that they simply do not want to see any significant price correction as of yet."

On the currency markets, the sterling was down 0.12 per cent against the euro to €1.080 and down 0.13 per cent against the dollar to $1.590.

Popularity: 1% [?]