At the close of business, the FTSE100 was up just 7.51 points at 5,650.13 with the FTSE250 ahead 15.59 points at 10,019.77 and the FTSE Smallcaps 2.05 points better at 2,876.84.

NEW YORK

US stocks moved down in late morning trade on fears other countries could follow India's lead and raise interest rates.

Approaching the close in London, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 60 points at 10,719, the S&P500 lost 8 points at 1,158 and the Nasdaq Composite dipped 20 points at 2,371.

LONDON MARKETS

A busier day than of late in London was inspired by an upbeat statement from Lloyds Banking Group. The bank said that it had seen a strong start to 2010 and believes that it will be profitable on a combined businesses basis in 2010.

Lloyds shares soared 4.58p (8.2%) at 60.13p in heavy volumes, with Royal Bank of Scotland jumping 2p at 44p and Barclays ahead 4.7p at 357.6p. However, Asia-focused Standard Chartered moved down 1p at 1,770.5p and HSBC eased a penny to 680p.

South Africa based Investec, which joins the main list on Monday, gained 4p at 539p.

Hedge fund manager Man Group recovered from recent doubts with a gain of 3.1p at 244.1p, while Schroders rose 19p at 1,395p and private equity group 3i added 3.9p at 292.6.