The FTSE 100 was moving within a very narrow range this morning and was roughly unchanged from the opening level in early afternoon.
Medical devices manufacturer Smith & Nephew (LON:SN) led the way with a gain of nearly 4%.
Security services group G4S (LON:GFS) and insurer Prudential (LON:PRU) followed, tacking on 3.1% and 2.8% respectively.
Insurers Aviva (LON:AV) and Old Mutual (LON:OML), engineering company GKN (LON:GKN) and oil and gas producer BG Group (LON:BG) tacked on just over 1%.
Capital Shopping Centres Group (LON:CSCG) was at the bottom of the pile, sliding 4% on concerns that Simon Group, which is preparing to take over the company, could decide against bidding.
“If, however, the CSC Board were to state that it will not provide any due diligence materials to Simon, Simon would have no alternative but to terminate its approach: Simon will not waive this requirement,” said Simon Group in a letter to CSCG.
Simon also reiterated its opposition to the acquisition of the Trafford Centre.
Specialist banking group Investec (LON:INVP) and copper miner Kazakhmys (LON:KAZ) shed nearly 2%.
US stocks are expected to open slightly lower with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index expected to decline 0.2%.
Stocks on Wall Street rallied early in yesterday’s session after US President Barack Obama agreed to extend tax breaks introduced by his predecessor George W Bush. The markets were aided by a decline in the US dollar against the euro on expectations that Ireland will pass the toughest budget in the country’s history to tackle its debt problems.
However, investors were forced to take a step back late yesterday after Europe’s single currency declined amid lack of new steps to contain Europe’s debt problems by EU finance ministers.
Asian markets were in selling mode this morning.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.95%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1.4% and South Korea’s KOSPI was down 0.35%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 went against the tide, advancing 0.9%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.6%.
Gains in the US dollar pressured commodities.
US light, sweet crude for January delivery, which is currently the most actively traded contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), dropped to US$88.03/barrel.
Gold slipped to US$1,393/oz and platinum fell to US$1,685/oz.
Base metals followed with copper and nickel slipping to US$4.03/lb and US$10.75/lb respectively.