Update: FTSE gains 80 points on Fed's QE3 boost

The FTSE 100 gained more than 80 points in early trading while global markets leapt higher overnight, lifted by the Federal Reserve's latest round of quantitative easing.

As reported yesterday, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke has introduced QE3, this time in the form of an open-ended package to stimulate the housing market with the purchase of $40bn of mortgage-backed securities per month. The FTSE 100 closed 0.65% higher at 5,819 yesterday ahead of the Fed announcement, and this morning jumped 1.32% to trade at 5,896. The S&P 500 index of America’s largest stocks ended the session 1.63% higher at 1,460, while the Dow climbed 1.55% to 13,540. In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 rose 1.83% and the Hang Seng index gained 2.75%. The US dollar fell against ot...