FTSE falls on retreating resources

The FTSE 100 reversed some of the strong gains recorded yesterday as commodity stocks dragged the index down more than 86 points, or 2.21%, to 3,839.

Copper mining company Antofagasta was down 3.07% to £4.89 while platinum producer Lonmin fell 2.95% to £13.81. Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is also down, dropping 2.8% to £15.27.

Lloyds Banking Group has recorded the morning's largest loss so far - 4.38% to 67.6p.

Vodafone Group leads the gainers in early trading, up 2.61% to £1.25, followed by waste management business Pennon Group, which is up 2.53% to £4.15.

In the US, the Dow Jones advanced 86.9 points, or 1.16%, to 7,608.92 on Tuesday as financials bounced back from Monday's sharp sell-off.

Bank of America was the biggest gainer, up 13.1% to $6.82, while Citigroup climbed 9.5% to $2.53. JPMorgan Chase added 6.96% to $26.58.

General Motors was the Dow's biggest loser, dropping 28.15% to $1.94, following the White House's earlier rejection of its restructuring plans.

Shares in Tokyo surged after the overnight rise on Wall Street and a weaker yen, with the Nikkei 225 closing 2.99% higher to 8,351.91.