The FTSE 100 was roughly unchanged form the opening level in early afternoon.
There isn’t any macroeconomic news due to be released today that could significantly impact the market direction.
Mining major Xstrata (LON:XTA) led the way, advancing 2.5%.
Engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce (LON:RR), outsources Capita Group (LON:CPI), food companies Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) and Compass Group (LON:CPG) and oil and gas producers Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) and Cairn Energy (LON:CNE) tacked on just over 1%.
Gold producer Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) was at the bottom of the pile with a 3.3% loss.
Mining majors Vedanta Resources (LON:VED) and Eurasian Natural Resources (LON:ENRC) lost about 2%, as did defence contractor Cobham (LON:COB) and bank Barclays (LON:BARC).
Retailer Tesco (LON:TSCO) and hedge fund manager Man Group (LON:EMG) shed just over 1%.
ABF, Vedanta, Private equity group 3i (LON:III) and specialist banking group Investec (LON:INVP) went ex-dividend today.
In the US, stock index futures were nearly unresponsive to Ben Bernanke’s statements in yesterday’s 60 Minutes show on CBS.
The Fed Chairman said that the Fed could look into pumping more money into the economy after announcing a further US$600 billion asset purchase programme to drive up inflation and reduce unemployment.
However, jobs data has so far been disappointing as Friday’s non-farm payrolls update from the Labor Department showed that just 39,000 jobs were added in November, while the unemployment rate climbed from 9.6% to 9.8%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and the S&P 500 index are expected to open with marginal losses today after tacking on about 0.2% on Friday.
In other news, Pfizer’s (NYSE:PFE) chief executive Jeffrey Kindler unexpectedly resigned today. He will be succeeded by Ian Read.
Asian stocks were mixed today.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index added 0.5% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 0.35%, while South Korea’s KOSPI lost 0.2% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.1%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.1%.