Morning Markets: FTSE holds steady ahead of new data

The FTSE 100 was up by just 1.21 points at 5,724.64 in early trading as investors await government borrowing and retail sales figures due out later today.

Shares in Arriva edged up 0.4% to 769p after the transport group agreed to a take-over by German firm Deutsche Bahn. Miners also did well, with Vedanta Resources up 2.99% to £27.54 and Randgold Resources rising 2.56% to £52.05. Punch Taverns fell 5.7% after reporting a 20% drop in half-year profits to £66m, and warning it was spending £2m a month to support struggling tenants. Financials were also down, with Aviva falling 1.09% to 381.50p, Prudential down 0.80% to 560p and Old Mutual dropping 0.25% to 117.40p. In the US, the Dow Jones index edged up by 6.9 points, less than 0.1% to...