Dow shows early gains

Blue-chip shares shook off a subdued close on Wall Street last night to move ahead in early trading this morning.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and tech-laden Nasdaq both eased on disappointing corporate updates and profit-taking.

But despite this the FTSE 100 Index was able to gain 29.9 points at 4148.8 points after an hour’s trading this morning.

A number of heavyweight stocks were supporting the market, with Vodafone ahead 2p at 100.5p and BP 2p stronger at 429.5p.

Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline was also stronger, up 22p at 1353p ahead of its third-quarter figures, due out later this morning.

Among the financial stocks, Prudential was up 8.5p at 467p while its majority owned internet bank Egg, a FTSE 250 stock, put on 6p at 133p.

Egg cheered the City after posting another rise in profits at its UK arm over the last quarter.

Among other smaller stocks reporting this morning, discount retailer Matalan shot ahead 17p to 212p after its interim figures and full-year outlook pleased investors.

But transport group Stagecoach plunged 23% after showing how its US operations were continuing to suffer from the country’s weak economic climate.

Shares dived 5.75p to 18.75p on the trading update.