FTSE 100 surges to 2016 high

Standard Chartered leading the FTSE

The FTSE 100 has risen to its highest level since the end of December, boosted by share price rallies in commodity firms and Standard Chartered.

The index was trading at 6,242 points at the end of December 2015 and continued to fall throughout January, before eventually bottoming out at 5,536 in mid-February. It has since rebounded and was trading at 6,351 by 14.30pm, up 1.8% on the day. European equities suffer worst quarter versus US since 2003 Emerging market bank Standard Chartered was leading the blue chips, rising by almost 10%, as it announced it would consider the sale of $4.4bn worth of Asian assets. It is understood the majority of this relates to $1.4bn of stressed loans made to firms in India as well as smalle...