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According to Bloomberg, the index was down 0.5 per cent earlier this morning but it has gained some ground and stood at 5,956.02 by 12:29 GMT.
It was helped out by a positive result for Prudential, which surged by 4.8 per cent to 748 pence as its dividend increased by 20 per cent.
The insurer also announced an annual operating profit increase to £1.94 billion, above the £1.74 billion median estimate taken from ten Bloomberg analysts.
And Prudential has opted to increase its full-year dividend to 23.9 pence a share.
Yesterday afternoon saw the FTSE 100 drop by 0.4 per cent after it shed 25.18 points to stand at 5,948.6.
This was not helped by slumps for both the Weir Group - down by 5.1 per cent - and Randgold Reserves, which dropped by 5.2 per cent.
Posted by Chris Weaver
