FTSE steady on strong global cues

The FTSE has recovered 28 points to 4556.9

The FTSE 100 Index has swung into the black after ending its 11-day winning streak on Tuesday.

The London market rose 23.7 points to 4552.6 in the first hour of trade after a mixed result for world markets.

It matched a previous all-time record run but was on Tuesday dragged lower by oil, mining and bank stocks.

Banks were back in the black, with Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland both in the risers column. Lloyds climbed 1.33p to 82.61p, while RBS added 1.2p to 43.2p.

A broker upgrade helped Schroders leap to the top of the Footsie chart, with a more than 6% rise. Shares rose 60.5p to 969.5p.

Meanwhile Cadbury saw gains after it reported underlying half year pre-tax profits of £262 million, up 11% at constant currency rates on a year earlier. Shares rose 8.5p to 573p after the Dairy Milk maker said sweet toothed consumers in the UK had helped it offset difficult conditions elsewhere.

In the FTSE 250, Halfords said sales were boosted by strong demand in cycling, camping and travel equipment. The firm rose 1.25p to 342.25p as it reported quarterly like-for-like sales growth of 1.3%.