Computer glitch freezes Footsie

The Footsie had a morning of rare calm today after a computer glitch forced FTSE International to freeze the index.

Shares continued to trade despite FTSE's problems and there was a definite upward trend led by technology stocks following Friday's sharp rise in Nasdaq, the US tech index.

Two of the biggest fallers last week, Baltimore Technologies and Thus, lit up the leaderboard with big rises. Their shares were ahead 300p to £89.00 and 16p to 485p respectively.

Other gainers in the first hour of trading included Energis, the telecoms group, who today announced a deal with Tornado Group, a digital service provider.

Shares in Energis rallied 27p to £29.50.

Elsewhere the retail sector made gains with Marks & Spencer rallying to 255p and Tesco up 6p to 215p.

The companies' share prices were buoyed by Friday's announcement they were joining up with nine other major retailers to create a worldwide website designed to cut supply costs.