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FTSE 100 seen flat as Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ trim gains

10th Mar 2010, 7:45 am FTSE 100 seen flat as Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ trim gains

The FTSE 100 is seen slightly lower in early trade after US shares trimmed gains following a strong performance in the afternoon. Telecom stocks were the main driver behind the surge after Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) unveiled a faster router, also helping peers AT&T (NASDAQ: ATT) and Verizon Communications (NASDAQ: VZ) to gains.

Temporary power provider Aggreko (LSE: AGK) led the UK market with a 2% climb with insurer Old Mutual (LSE: OML), GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) following with gains of over 1.5%. Caterer Bunzl (LSE: BNZL) and Chilean copper miner Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) were up 1.1%, while power generation company International Power (LSE: IPR), beverage group SABMiller (LSE: SAB) and car insurer Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) rose 1%.

Commercial property company Liberty International (LSE: LII) was the heaviest faller with a 4% loss, while bank Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) and Imperial Tobacco Group (LSE: IMT) declined 3% and 2.5% respectively. Another property stock Hammerson (LSE: HMSO) was down 1.6%.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day with a 0.1% gain, while the broader S&P 500 index climbed 0.2% and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite rose 0.35%.

Asian markets turned negative today. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 0.15%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index was 0.65% lower, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index and South Korea’s KOSPI were flat, as was Australia’s S&P/ASX 200.

Commodities

Oil prices were lower as April Brent Crude slid to US$79.58/barrel, while US light, sweet crude declined to US$81.13/barrel.

Precious metals recovered from yesterday’s falls with gold climbing to US$1,123/oz, while silver and platinum advanced to US$17.32/oz and US$1,603/oz respectively.

Base metals followed as copper and nickel improved to US$3.39/lb and US$10.04/lb respectively. Zinc held steady at US$1.06/lb.

Admiral Group, British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS), asset management firm Schroders (LSE: SDR), business services company Serco Group (LSE: SRP), pharmaceutical company Shire (LSE: SHP), bank Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) and tour operator TUI Travel (LSE: TT) will be trading ex-dividend today. Insurance focused investor Resolution (LSE: RSL) and London Stock Exchange Group (LSE: LSE) are set to leave the FTSE 100 index today.

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