And the volatility continues, with leading shares bouncing back from Wednesday's losses thanks to a revival in banking and mining shares.
After the rout in the banking sector following talk of problems at French bank Societe Generale, which was forced to put out a statement denying it was in trouble, there is a recovery of sorts so far. Barclays is 2p better at 165.7p while Lloyds Banking Group has been lifted 0.475p to 31.32p. Royal Bank of Scotland has risen 0.49p to 24.78p.
Overall the FTSE 100 is up 93.70 points at 5100.86, but the mood is still fragile as Eurozone doubts continue ahead of Italy's austerity budget and, closer to home, a statement from George Osborne on the UK economy. Later come US weekly jobless claims, with forecasts of an increase from 400,000 to 405,000.
And it is worth pointing out the leading index has not recovered all of Wednesday's falls. Indeed, the market rose initially then too, but later collapsed as rumours circulated about France being in danger of losing its Triple A credit rating - subsequently denied by the ratings agencies. David Jones at IG Index said:
The UK stock market seems to be in "wait and see" mode after sharply positive open. I think it will be choppy until US open unless there are any more French dramas.Kazakhmys Aquarius Platinum
The impairment of Blue Ridge represents a fitting conclusion to what must have been two long years of battling with this mine. That aside, we believe that these results reflect the fact that Aquarius has had a solid year given the tough operating environment. Strategically, the transactions which the group has announced during the course of the year have increased the group's resources by 50%, which we view as very positive.
We reiterate our add recommendation and our 312p target price. We continue to believe that the platinum group metals sector is not out of the woods yet. However, for the long term investor, Aquarius is the right platinum company to hold.
