London open: Footsie up as Eurozone fears ease

London's blue chips were on the rise in the opening minutes following on from moderate gains seen on Wall Street last night and in Asian markets this morning. News of a new national unity government in Italy and the revealing of a new Greek prime minister has calmed fears slightly elsewhere in the Eurozone.EUROZONE FEARS EASE...FOR NOWThe blue chip index is looking for a quick correction of the moderate losses seen the day before on the back of rumours of an apparent downgrade by S&P of French sovereign debt. It was later announced that this was due to a "technical error" and that the nation's AAA rating was safe and sound.Meanwhile, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has asked former EU commissioner Mario Monti to remain in Rome during the weekend, according to news reports. Markets are speculating that the motive behind this decision is the need for Mr. Monti to be present at the meetings now underway to form a national unity cabinet. Particularly relevant, political sources cited by Reuters have indicated that a "broad-based" Monti government could be in place as early as Sunday night or Monday.BANKS IN DEMANDThe banks were among the high risers in early trading. Royal Bank of Scotland rose nearly 2% on reports that some 10% (2,000 staff) are to be let go in is investment banking division, according to the Telegraph. "The redundancies have been focused on areas such as credit trading and emerging markets where profits have fallen the fastest," the paper writes.HSBC was making moderate gains on reports that it has started to cut hundreds of jobs in investment banking, in an attempt to reduce costs. 30,000 jobs are expected to go in the next two years. "We are not commenting on specifics but HSBC is going through an efficiency programme as described at the investor day in May," a HSBC spokesman told the Telegraph.Barclays was higher after saying that it is to sell the management company and associated companies which form Barclays Capital's management buy-out business, Barclays Private Equity, to its management team. Oil titan BP was on the rise on reports that a Russian court has rejected two mammoth lawsuits against the firm filed by TNK-BP shareholders. Reuters says the two lawsuits totaled some $15.8bn.Power systems giant Rolls-Royce was also higher after assuring that trading since the end of the first half has been in line with the guidance given in July - double digit growth in engine deliveries in all sectors and between 20% and 25% growth in group profit.Energy firm Centrica rose after acquiring Illinois-based home protection company Home Warranty of America for $48m (£30m) in cash through its US subsidiary Direct Energy. Experian is among the worst performers, retreating after a strong near-6% rise yesterday.BCFTSE 100 - RisersInternational Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 145.50p +2.68%Schroders (SDR) 1,336.00p +2.45%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 21.49p +1.80%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 27.59p +1.55%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,124.00p +1.35%Anglo American (AAL) 2,411.50p +1.17%Barclays (BARC) 171.70p +1.00%Amec (AMEC) 909.50p +0.89%BP (BP.) 451.20p +0.57%Xstrata (XTA) 1,008.50p +0.55%FTSE 100 - FallersBG Group (BG.) 1,342.00p -2.72%ITV (ITV) 62.60p -1.11%Experian (EXPN) 820.50p -0.67%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 484.30p -0.62%Whitbread (WTB) 1,602.00p -0.56%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 261.70p -0.53%Smiths Group (SMIN) 916.00p -0.49%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,819.00p -0.38%Land Securities Group (LAND) 670.50p -0.37%BT Group (BT.A) 187.70p -0.37%