Morning Markets: BP results drag on FTSE

The FTSE 100 opened slightly down, dipping 0.02% or 0.84 points to 5,246 in early trading, as BP posted worse then expected fourth quarter results.

The oil company was the morning's biggest faller, down 4.15% to £5.75 as it warned output could fall in 2010.

Miners led early morning gains with Rio Tinto up 1.9% to £32.43. Kazakhmys grew 1.25% to £12.97 and Anglo American rose 1.24% to £24.08.

Cable & Wireless was also up 1.95% to £1.46 after it said it was on track to demerge its Worldwide unit in March and announced a $500m bond sale.

Financials could come under pressure this afternoon with the US Senate due to conduct a hearing into President Obama's banking reforms.

However, banks are proving resilient this morning with Barclays up 1.44% to £2.86. Lloyds was up 1.19% to 53p, RBS rose 0.2% to 34p and HSBC dipped marginally 0.04% to £6.86.

In the US, the Dow Jones index closed up 1.17%, or 118.2 points, to 10,185 driven by positive manufacturing data and gains in the energy sector.

The Institute for Supply Management's index climbed to 58.4, pointing to the strongest level of manufacturing activity since August 2004.

Meanwhile, the country's largest oil company ExxonMobil posted better than expected results, its shares rising 2.72% to $66.18.

In Japan, the Nikkei climbed 1.63% or 166 points to 10,371.09 helped by Toyota Motor Corp jumping 4.49% to ¥3,605 after revealing plans of its fix for recalled vehicles.