FTSE wavers as Friends splits from F&C

London markets opened higher this morning, regaining some of Thursday’s lost ground, with the FTSE 100 up 12.32 points (0.29%) to 4,246.59.

Friends Provident shares fell 7% this morning as the firm approached the end of its demerger from F&C, down to just 63.15p.

Financials performed well in early trade, private equity firm 3i up 1.97% to 233.5p, with Schroders close behind, up 1.9% to 832p.

Partially nationalised banks also saw shares rise after yesterday’s sell-off, with Lloyds adding 1.49% to 66.88p and RBS up 1.48% to 38.46p.

 Shares tumbled on Wall Street yesterday after jobs data was worse than expected, with the Dow Jones down 223.32 points (2.63%) to 8,280.74.

Shares on the blue chip index plummeted as the news was announced, with aluminium firm Alcoa worst hit, down 5.12% to $9.86.

JPMorgan Chase shares fell 4.47% to $32.27, while United Tech dipped 3.9% to $50.24 and Caterpillar fell 3.89% to $31.74.

Shares in Asia also took a hit following the revelations about the state of the US jobs market.  The Nikkei 225 fell 60.8 points (0.61%) to 9,816.07.