Bargain hunting raises FTSE share prices

The FTSE 100 Index is 53.4 points ahead at 5069.6 as investors are picking up a host of blue-chip stocks.

A number of market heavyweights are fuelling the rise, with Vodafone up 1½p to 158¼p, BT 15p better off at 378p and GlaxoSmithKline climbing 44p to £19.35.

High-street banks are also faring well, with Royal Bank of Scotland up 32p at £15.82, Barclays rising 31p to £19.85 and HBoS edging up 27p to 782p.

And BP and Shell are bouncing back from losses at the start of the day, with BP up 5½p at 569½p and Shell down just 5½p at 518½p.

Elsewhere, media stocks are recovering from recent losses, with Pearson up 54p to 719p, United Business Media ahead 18p at 380p and Granada up 4p to 114p.

But British Airways is still suffering, falling 3¾p to 161¾p, as fears over the impact of the US terrorist attack continue to mount.

Retailers are also on the slide with Tesco and Sainsbury's off 7p and 5¼p at 253p and 368¾p respectively. And Marks & Spencer is on the way down after hitting its highest price of the year yesterday.

The group, which reports second-quarter sales figures next Tuesday, slipped 5¼p to 288¾p despite the publicity surrounding its new Per Una range. Analysts say investors have realised the range will only account for at best 3% of group sales.

Compass has climbed 4% - 18p to 480p - after saying its full-year profits would in line despite the recent events in the US.

Cookson is also gaining ground despite announcing it was cutting a further 1,740 jobs. Its shares have risen 2½p to 43½p - a jump of 6%.

And easyJet has lifted 15p to 350p as passenger numbers for September showed no adverse impact from the US terrorist crisis.