In mid-morning trading the FTSE 100 is a little lower, but there are no signs of another rout for share prices just yet.

Following sharp falls as London came into the close yesterday, President Obama's proposals for wholesale reform of the banking sector currently remains the only story in town. Although so far the FTSE has held steady, not too far off yesterday's close, drilling down into the blue chip movers reveals where the damage is being done. Biggest loser today is interdealer broker ICAP, off by around 6% so far, with its revenue a likely casualty if banks have to rein in trading activities. The next two losers are also unsurprising candidates - Barclays (due to the impact any changes could have on its Barclays Capital division) and London Stock Exchange (due to a potential drop in volumes).

After the sharp falls seen yesterday, markets now seem to be adopting a wait-and-see attitude. Yesterday's plans have the potential to change banking as we know it, but judging the reaction by markets today there does seem to be a degree of scepticism as to just what proportion of the proposed changes will make it into legislation. Looking ahead to the US open, we are currently expecting a slightly positive start to trading for the Dow Jones, estimated at a 10 point rise. There are no major economic announcements due out today, but with the ongoing banking concerns and earnings results expected from the likes of GE and McDonalds, it should be anything but a dull session to finish the week.