The FTSE 100 opened higher today but is slipping back towards last night's closing level as the morning wears on.

Overnight gains on Wall Street and in Asia sent the FTSE higher this morning. Royal Bank of Scotland is the morning's biggest winner, up around 2.5% after selling its Pakistan business for £34 million. Cairn Energy also fared well after receiving Greenland's approval for the first two of four wells planned for 2010. It's a mixed bag of gainers this morning, with temporary power supplier Aggreko also among the blue-chip top five after Citigroup upgraded them to 'buy' from 'hold'. Water firm Severn Trent is down 4.53% at the other end of the table, and Schroders also suffered a drop of 2.42% after Citigroup downgraded the fund manager's rating to 'sell' from 'buy'.

UK unemployment figures released this morning showed that the number of people out of work rose by 23,000 to 2.47 million in the quarter to April compared to the quarter to January - up from 7.8% to 7.9%. However, the number of people claiming jobseekers allowance fell in May by 30,900 to 1.48 million. Some analysts are concerned that the government's planned cuts in spending will make the unemployment problem worse. Looking ahead to the US open, the Dow looks set to continue its positive run when Wall Street opens.