The FTSE 100 made a positive start to the trading day with the recovery in US stocks helping to buoy sentiment. The index of UK blue chips advanced 34 points 7,277.51 in the first half-hour. Compass, the contract caterer, led the way with a near 8% jump after it upgraded guidance for the year in the wake of a strong first-half showing. Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, one of the UK’s largest investors in Silicon Valley, was up 2.6% after the tech-led Nasdaq righted itself after the recent bloodletting. Bargain hunting after the recent China-inspired sell-off propelled the miners towards the top of the Footsie leader board. Anglo American led the way with a 2% gain, closely followed by Rio Tinto and Antofagasta. 6.55 am: Positive start predicted The FTSE 100 is set to start into positive territory on Wednesday as Wall Street gyrations continue to move global market indices. CFD firm IG Markets sees the London benchmark up close to half a percent, up 38 points, making a price of 7,293 to 7,296 with just over an hour to go until the open. Mixed-bag trading on Wall Street remains the lever “The ebb and flow of US markets continues to be the main driver, with the S&P500 making a new one year low at 3,958, before recovering back above 4,000, to eke out a modest gain, while the Nasdaq 100 closed higher, and the Dow closed lower,” said Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC Markets. “This slightly more positive turn should help markets here in Europe open modestly higher this morning.” He added: “We’ve seen plenty of speculation as to whether we’re close to seeing a plateau in short term inflationary pressures over the past few days, having seen bond yields slip back sharply in the last day or so.” The Dow Jones closed 84 points or 0.26% lower at 32,160 for Tuesday, whilst the S&P 500 recouped 0.25% to 4,001 and the Nasdaq rallied nearly 1% to close trading at 11,737. The small-cap focussed Russell index meanwhile edged slightly lower to 1,761. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei was trading up 0.3% at 26,243 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng strengthened more than 2% to 20,055. The Shanghai Composite similarly gained 1.9% to 3,094. Around the markets The pound: US$1.2336, up 0.18% Gold: US$1,837 per ounce, up 0.22% Silver: US$21.50 per ounce, up 1.03% Brent Crude: US$104.90 per barrel, down 0.98% WTI Crude: US$102.27 per barrel, down 0.78% Bitcoin: US$31,508, down 0.67% Ethereum: US$2,381, sown 0.2%