Footsie regains some of its losses

The FTSE-100 Index is down 14 points at 5191.2 at mid-morning, having fallen by as much as 53 points earlier in the session.

Shares were sent reeling in the first hour by last night's gloomy Beige Book update from the US Federal Reserve, which pushed the Dow Jones down by 1.6%.

One trader said the update read like a "Stephen King novel" and there was little hope unemployment data out later in the US would lift the depression.

Rolls-Royce is among the early fallers, down 9p at 159p, and GKN is off 10¼p at 289¾p.

But a host of blue chips are helping the market fight back, with GUS up 6% after encouraging half-year figures. Profits came in at £131.6m, 12% higher than the same period a year ago and at the top end of City expectations.

British Land is another high flyer, rising 18p to 468p, after reporting interim results that were also slightly higher than some analysts had forecast.

Further speculation about Standard Chartered is also boosting the market. Standard surged 4% or 30p to 855p as the shock departure of chief executive Rana Talwar fuelled talk of a possible bid for the bank.

Potential suitor Barclays is up 19p at £21.12 and other banks are also fighting back from recent losses.

Royal Bank of Scotland has risen 22p to £16.49 while HBOS has edged up 3p to 810½p while HSBC rose 5p to 843p.

Tech stocks are also ahead with Logica up 26p at 796p and Arm Holdings 11¼p higher at 368¼p.