Morning Markets: FTSE follows Asia gains

The FTSE opened higher this morning at 5,555.68, up 28.52 (0.52%), following gains in Asia and the United States overnight.

Asset management company Schroders topped the leader board trading at £13.57, up 0.59%, after yesterday's full-year results revealed total assets under management rose to £148bn.

Banking overall did well and shored up the index, with Standard Chartered and Barclays trading at 338p up 1.50%, and £17.25, an increase of 1.44%, respectively.

Topping the losers' board was WPP Group, the world's largest advertising company, trading at 610p, down 2.24%, in the wake of its 2009 report which showed revenues fell 8.1% as a result of the ad market slow down.

Elsewhere Vedanta, the beleaguered mining group, was down 0.42% trading at £25.84.

The Dow Jones ending trading higher at 10,444.14, up 4.38 points (0.46%), following better than expected jobless claims and productivity figures.

Walt Disney topped the winners' board trading at $32.57, up 2.94% boosted by an investment firm upgrade.

The losers' league was dominated by McDonalds trading at $63.43, down 0.31% as the fast food giant was hit by a coffee price war with Starbucks and the slow economy.

Key non-farm payrolls data from the US, which is seen as a key indicator of the extent of economic recovery, is due later on Friday.

In Tokyo stocks rebounded sharply as investor sentiment was buoyed by a weak Yen. The Nikkei advanced 223.24 points, or 2.20% from Thursday to 10,368.96.