Footsie makes a bright start to week

The London market finished on the front foot today buoyed by a positive start across the Atlantic while Standard Life drew plenty of buying interest during its first session over here.

Shares in the insurer, which ended more than 80 years as a mutual company following the flotation, opened at 230p but rose 5% to 242.5p after the stock appeared to attract strong interest from funds keen to guarantee the presence of a future blue-chip stock. The Edinburgh-based company is due to be promoted into the FTSE 100 Index at the next reshuffle in September.