Oil stocks raise Footsie

The FTSE 100 Index is up 20.3 points at 3861.7 as both BP and Shell are stronger as fears of war in Iraq has sparked speculation about the future price of crude.

BP has added 5p at 418p and Shell has put on 3.75p at 394.5p, providing support for the wider market.

Banks are also stronger, with Barclays up 5p at 375p and Lloyds TSB ahead 4.5p at 440p.

The session is expected to be volatile, however, as futures and option contracts expire at the same time - known as "double witching" in the City.

It often causes extreme movements on equity markets and last time was responsible for busiest 20 minutes in the London Stock Exchange's history, with shares moving sharply higher before diving back down.

But ahead of that there is little to inspire trading, with most news restricted to smaller stocks.

Engineering group Dowding & Mills has tumbled 38% or 7p at 11.5p on plans to axe this year's dividend while chain Coffee Republic has fallen 0.25p to 2p on a set of disappointing interim results.