Wall Street opened with an impressive upwards spike today, helping the FTSE to rally slightly in the process.

After a positive open this morning, the FTSE undid most of yesterday's good work as it plunged back towards 5700. The negative sentiment drew primarily from disappointing unemployment figures, along with the reaction of index majors to falling metals prices. A strong open on Wall Street managed to halt the FTSE's nosedive, with strong earnings reports from the technology and financial sectors stoking early trading in the US. Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo reported profits of $1.8 billion and $2.5 billion respectively, following the better-than-expected results from Goldman Sachs and Apple yesterday.

In international news, the IMF today forecast that the global economy will grow faster than initially expected this year – by as much as 4.2%. This forecast came with a word of caution specifically regarding the handling of government debt, but the overall sentiment for the year ahead seems to be improving. It's been a busy reporting week in the US, and there is more to come as we head towards the weekend. The FTSE may well take its lead from Wall Street over the next couple of days, but with UK first quarter GDP figures expected on Friday there is plenty going on at home to influence blue chip trading.