FTSE edges into positive territory

London markets edged into positive territory today, boosted by gains at Prudential and a late rally on Wall Street on Friday.

Insurer Prudential climbed more than 2% after it announced it had entered into a binding agreement to sell its Egg Banking division to US banking giant Citigroup. Investors cheered the £575 million deal with shares in Prudential rising 11.5p to 714p.

The FTSE 100 Index tentatively climbed 3.5 points to 6231.5 by mid-morning, as Prudential’s gains helped offset falls at Drax.

The power station business extended last week’s heavy losses with a drop of 17p to 682.5p. It was followed lower by International Power, which eased 3p to 362p.

Pharmaceuticals group GlaxoSmithKline fell 12p to 1375p amid declining sales of its anti-depressant drug Seroxat, known as Paxil in the US, after it lost its patent protection in most markets.

The company is also facing further scrutiny ahead of a BBC investigation into the link between the drug and teenage suicide. Elsewhere in the sector AstraZeneca was 15p lower at 2789p.

Telecoms group Vodafone was 1.5p lower at 147.5p after it was impacted by a negative outlook statement from T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom, while BT also declined 2.25p to 302.25p.

In the second tier brewing and pubs operator Greene King saw its shares slide 7p to 1067p, despite and in-line trading update and positive comments about the impact of the smoking ban in Scotland.

Model railway firm Hornby fell more than 6%, or 20p to 285p, as it warned that the strength of sterling would offset steady recent trading.

Low-cost airline easyJet gained 10p to 634p following a fall in fuel costs and a broker upgrade from UBS. British Airways also enjoyed a lift from the note, rising 7.25p to 534.75p.