The FTSE 100 is projected to decline 0.6% in early trade after tacking on 0.25% on Monday.
Hedge fund manager Man Group (LON:EMG) led the blue chips with a 2.6% gain. Oil and gas engineering firm Petrofac (LON:PFC) and engineering company Weir Group (LON:WEIR) followed, advancing 2.5% and 2.4% respectively. Asset management firm Schroders (LON:SDR), fashion house Burberry (LON:BRBY) and satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat (LON:ISAT) added just over 2%, as did oil and gas producer Cairn Energy (LON:CNE) and bank Standard Chartered (LON:STAN).
Software developer Autonomy Corp (LON:AU) was at the bottom of the pile with a 2.3% decline. Consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RB), telecom group BT (LON:BT.A) and mining major Xstrata (LON:XTA) lost about 1.5%. Retailer Marks & Spencer (LON:MKS) and insurer Prudential (LON:PRU) were down 1.3%.
Asian markets were in selling mode. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.5%,South Korea’s KOSPI was down 1%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.7% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.9%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.5%.
Commodities
Oil prices moved lower. November Brent Crude declined to US$83.08/barrel, while US light, sweet crude retreated to US$81.42/barrel.
Precious metals were headed in different directions. Gold and silver declined to US$1,346/oz and US$23.01/oz, while platinum rose to US$1,684/oz.
Base metals declined. Copper and nickel moved down to US$3.76/lb and US$10.90/lb, while zinc declined to US$1.05/lb.
Minutes of the latest Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy meeting will be released today. An update on the CPI (consumer prices index) will be out in the UK.