Dow rally tips FTSE over 5,000 again

London’s blue chip index has passed the 5,000 points barrier once more, buoyed by optimism on Wall Street over night.

The FTSE is up 19.73 points (0.4%) to 5007.41 at 9.30 after a good day's trading in the US, as investors responded to news President Obama's stimulus package has boosted GDP and created jobs.

Hedge fund giant, Man Group has added 4.93% to 280.8p upon speculation of a fund launch, while International Power has gained 3.53% to 293.4p.

However, Friends Provident Group lost 0.96% to 82.7p and Standard Chartered has tumbled 0.63% to £14.19.

In the US, the Dow Jones ended trading up 80.26 points (0.84%) to 9627.48, as The White House announced Obama's $767bn American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has created over one million jobs and boosted US GDP by 2-3% between April and June.

Walt Disney Co gained 5.23% to $28.36, while Proctor & Gamble Co climbed 4.24% to $56.04 confirming previous guidance for organic sales growth of between 1% and 3% in 2010.

Communications giants AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc added 2.39% to $26.56 and 1.49% to $31.35, respectively.

However, as speculation of another bid for Cadbury mounts, Kraft Food Inc has fallen 2.72% to $26.12, while McDonald's Corp has shed 0.44% to $54.85.

In Japan, the Nikkei is down 69.34 points (0.66%) to 10444.33, as exporters and carmakers continue to be hit by a strong yen.