Footsie rises in early trading

The FTSE-100 Index was ahead by 16.4 points at 5152.7 after an hour's trading, helped by a healthy finish on the US markets.

Railtrack's profits announcement grabbed most interest in the City, although trading in the company's shares was suspended when the British government placed it in administration.

Telecoms stocks were providing most of the action, with mmO2 continuing its recent upward swing by picking up another 2% or 1¾p to reach 89½p.

Former parent company BT Group was the session's most heavily traded stock, gaining 4p at 264¼p in the first hour.

However, Financial Times owner Pearson was heading south after warning that the tough trading conditions of recent months were expected to continue into the first quarter of next year. Shares in the group fell by 24p to 782p, although other media stocks were largely unaffected by its comments.

Outside the Footsie 100, logistics group Tibbett & Britten fell 8% or 50p to 570p after reporting that sluggish clothing sales had hit profits at its fashion division.

And engineering group IMI fell 4p to 254p, despite saying it would meet its full-year targets.