Footsie claws its way back into positive territory

The Footsie index of 100 leading blue-chip stocks is up 9.4 points at mid-morning to stand at 5025.6, after recovering from heavy falls in early trading.

Vodafone is up 2p to 158¼p, while GlaxoSmithKline is up 7p to £18.98 as traders look to snap up key shares on the cheap.