Market overview: FTSE 100 up 17

LONDON (ShareCast) - 1630: London closed the day in the blue, reversing losses early on as US markets opened strongly. BT (LSE: BT-A.L - news) and Vodafone (LSE: VOD.L - news) were among the best performers along with pest control giant Rentokil (LSE: 647054.L - news) , which publishes an update tomorrow. Contractor Amec, though, closed as the best performer after a late run. Autonomy also picked up.

Telecoms group Cable & Wireless dropped after it revived plans to split itself in to two parts. That news accompanied interim results that were much in line with market expectations, although full-year earnings guidance for C&W International was lowered, due to weaker trading conditions in the Caribbean. Engineering (Milan: ENG.MI - news) company Invensys (LSE: ISYS.L - news) was also down heavily. FTSE 100 up 17 at 5,126.

1620: London's blue chips are heading for a good close after better than expected sales figures from Gap, Saks (NYSE: SKS - news) and Costco sent Wall Street soaring in early dealings. Contractor Amec could close as the best performer after a late run. Autonomy has also picked up. Cable & Wireless remains rooted to bottom spot. FTSE 100 up 33 at 5,142.

1510: London is now showing healthy gains following an 180-point surge on Wall Street in early dealings on better than expected retail numbers from some of the large US shop chains such as Gap. BT, Rentokil, and Rolls-Royce lead the rally, though the battered banks Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) are proving a drag. FTSE 100 up 25 at 5,133.

1350: London has crept into the blue. The FTSE 100 is up 1 point at 5,109 as US futures indicate and= early 40-point gain for Wall Street at the opening bell.

1330: US jobless claims fell by 20,000 to 512,000 in the week ended 31 October versus expectations of a drop to 522,000. The number of continuing claims fell by 68,000 to 5.8 million, as forecast.

1230: Footsie (news) has ticked up a little on the Bank of England's decision to boost the quantitative easing programme by £25bn over the next three months. Telecom heavyweights BT and Vodafone are propping up the index, with rat catcher Rentokil also going well ahead of a trading update tomorrow. Cable & Wireless and Invensys are the laggards. FTSE 100 down 25 at 5,083.

1115: The FTSE 100 is off 22 points at 5,085, it's best levels of the day as BT, Vodafone and Tesco (LSE: TSCO.L - news) gain ground.

0955: London shares have stabilised a little after a weak start. Cable & Wireless is the main weak spot, but its heavy fall is being offset by gains for its traditional rivals BT and Vodafone. Indian miner Vedanta is also lower on its latest production update. FTSE 100 down 35.

0950: UK new car sales rose to 168,942 last month, an increase of 31.6% compared with October 2008, according to the SMMT.

0820: London's top stocks opened lower with engineering company Invensys leading the fallers. The group said it is still confident of posting a year on year improvement in results over the full year despite being behind at the halfway stage. Telecoms group Cable & Wireless also dropped after it has revived plans to split itself in to two parts. FTSE 100 is down 40 points at 5,068.