German court decision and euro strength helps markets

Last night the the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 10,173, up 273 points or 2.7% after a German court blocked attempts to stop contributions to the euro zone default prevention fund. The S&P 500 Index climbed 31 points, or 3%, to 1,086. A strengthening euro above $1.21 also helped sentiment.

The FTSE 100 is currently up 48 points to 5,179. But the good news was tempered this morning when figures from the Office of National Statistics show a 0.4% fall in manufacturing production in April. There were expectations of a 0.5% rise after a 2.2% increase in March. Producer prices rose by 0.3% in May, against expectations of a 0.5% rise demonstrating that manufacturers are starting to struggle to push through price increases to buyers.

BP (BP.) is currently up 7% or 28p or 393p as sentiment turned more positive about the medium term impact on dividend payments after the steep falls earlier in the week. Unfortunately the portfolio was unable to benefit as the positon was sold yesterday at a profit but a frustrating not to take part in today's rise after the falls to around 340p yesterday morning.