After two days of drops the FTSE 100 started Friday with a jump of over four per cent.

At 8:46 BST the index stood up 4.28 per cent – or 165.16 points – to 4,026.55.
Wednesday and Thursday saw drops of over seven per cent and five per cent, Friday saw gains as shares started to advance in Asia.

Last night in New York, the Dow Jones pushed aside early drops to close up 4.68 per cent, while the Nikkei in Tokyo was up 2.78 per cent.

The new found slither of optimism after a very volatile week – as bank rescues spurred traders then recession fears dumped them into malaise.

Today’s boost came at the same time as an increase in the price of crude oil.

As such, Royal Dutch Shell ‘A’ rose 7.26 per cent, while miners Anglo American and Fresnillo gained 77.2 per cent and 8.47 per cent respectively.

Old Mutual was up 9.48 per cent – recovering from yesterday’s falls – while investment firm Alliance Trust gained 8.49 per cent.

Stocks falling were dominated by property.

British Land fell 2.49 per cent, while Land Securities was down 1.30 per cent. Whitbread and Intercontinental Hotels dropped 1.53 per cent and 1.38 per cent respectively, while retailer Kingfisher slipped 1.12 per cent.

On the currency markets the pound was down 0.24 per cent against the dollar to $1.72771, while it was unchanged against the euro at €1.28460 – making €1 worth £0.77835.