reports that The index began trading 0.79 per cent higher at 5,676 points.
“Today market attention will be on Washington DC as Fed chief Janet Yellen gives her semi-annual testimony to US policymakers on Capitol Hill, with markets increasingly writing off the prospect that the Fed will be able to raise rates at all this year,” said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets.
While we get the latest Fed minutes next week, Yellen’s comments today could give a huge steer on how the FOMC views the current market turmoil and whether she acknowledges that financial conditions have tightened, he added.
Banking stocks came under sharp pressure yesterday, but managed to claw back some of the losses they made as the market opened. Barclays was trading 2.85 per cent higher at 160.7p per share, while Lloyds rose 0.57 per cent to 58.46p per share.
HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland were trading 1.62 per cent higher at 439.5p per share and 2.7 per cent up at 231.7p per share.
Even some miners managed to regain some of their losses. Antofagasta was trading 1.1 per cent higher at 414.8p per share, while Anglo American’s share price rose 2.4 per cent to 341.8p per share.
BHP Billiton rose 0.78 per cent to 671.31p per share and Rio Tinto jumped 1.17 per cent to 1,771.5p per share.
But Arm Holdings was down 4.65 per cent at 896.29p per share, despite reporting rise in turnover and profits.
And Hikma Pharmaceuticals plummeted 13.31 per cent to 1,729p per share. This morning the company reduced its offer price for Roxane Laboratories by $535m.
