It may be April Fool's Day but surely the rises in bank shares are a prank too far. The near £10bn write down at UBS for sub-prime problems, along with a £2bn loss at Deutsche Bank, were expected to send financial shares lower.

Despite today's falls in the market - the FTSE 100 has closed 24.6 points lower at 5891.3 - Morgan Stanley strategist Graham Secker is positive on the short-term outlook.

Housebuilders are suffering today. First came news that mortgage approvals have fallen again, then Credit Suisse issued a downbeat note on the sector.

Imperial Energy, the Russia-focused oil and gas group, has seen its shares slump this morning after news that the credit crunch has forced it to drop plans to borrow $600m.

The first day of the second quarter, and spring really is here. How else to explain the market's surge on the back of yet more huge sub-prime write-offs at leading banks?