The FTSE 100 saw gains in morning trading, with rises for miners and Lloyds Banking – while sterling was back up after recent political uncertainties surrounding Gordon Brown.

At 08:53 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.47 per cent to 4,425.96.

Last night, the Dow Jones closed up 0.02 per cent following a late rally, which helped to fuel London’s early gains.

Heading the risers was Lloyds Banking – as reports emerged it was to close all branches of its Cheltenham and Gloucester (C&G) subsidiary.

In early trading, the bank was up 3.93 per cent to 63.50p. Royal Bank of Scotland gained 1.98 per cent.

Home Retail Group – owner of Argos and Homebase – was up 2.62 per cent despite disappointing non-food retail sales figures.

Miners Eurasian and Vedanta rose 2.45 per cent and 2.19 per cent respectively.

HSBC Holdings led the falls dropping 2.48 per cent, while property giant Liberty International was down 2.01 per cent.

Aviva and Standard Life fell 1.48 per cent and 1.13 per cent respectively.

On the currency markets, the pound was back up after its dip over uncertainty over the future of Gordon Brown.

As the PM convinced Labour MPs to let him stay, sterling was up 0.57 per cent against the dollar making £1 worth $1.6136.

Against the euro, £1 was worth €1,1574 – a rise of 0.21 per cent.