30 Dec 2011:
Leading UK market's 327-point decline in a year of turbulence was a stark contrast to the US, where Dow Jones industrial average remains 6% up
London's leading shares climbed more than 80 points this afternoon to 5509, a 1.5% gain, after the Dow Jones opened 100 points higher, trading up 0.8% at 12122. This wasn't enough to reverse yesterday's heavy sell-off, though
The rise in confidence among US investors is the result of better figures from the corporate sector and the Democrat administration pumping as many government dollars into the economy as Congress will allow