All eyes will be on the US jobs report scheduled for this afternoon, with investors likely to be in wait-and-see mode until they are released.
Economists are tipping the October reading will the non-farm payrolls rise by around 180,000, following on from September's 142,000 gain.
US markets were little changed yesterday as investors sat on their hands, with the Dow Jones down just five points at 17,863, the Nasdaq Composite off 14 points at 5,128 and the S&P composite a couple of points lower at 2,100.
Despite that slightly negative lead, UK stocks are tipped to open modestly higher, with the FTSE100, which declined 48 points yesterday, looking at a 13 point gain when trading starts this morning, if spread betting quotes are to be believed.
Pundits are still getting to grips with the Bank of England's (BoE) Inflation report, where the tone was anything but hawkish.
“Of course, with inflation back below zero and GDP growth in Q3 having come in below the BoE's previous forecast, a downward revision to the near-term GDP forecasts was to be expected, but while the report emphasised increased concerns about external risks in the face of weakening global growth than three months ago, the Bank's projections for GDP growth this year and next were nudged only marginally lower - by 0.1pt to 2.7%Y/Y and 2.5%Y/Y respectively,” noted Daiwa Securities.
“Perhaps of more significance was the revision to the Bank's expectation for the inflation outlook. Indeed, based on the market implied path of interest rates, the BoE now expects headline CPI [Consumer Price Index] to remain below 1% well into the second half of next year,” the broker added.
The revisions to the near-term inflation forecast arguably increase the chances that the first hike is pushed out beyond May, according to Daiwa.
Asian markets were sending mixed signals as they moved into the last hour of trading with the Nikkei 225 in Japan up 0.8% at 19,266 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong tumbling 145 points to 22,906.
Chinese shares had another good day, with the Shanghai Composite rising 64 points to 3,586.
Aside from the US jobs report, there is not much scheduled corporate news to whet investors' appetite, with 3i Infrastructure (LON:3IN) and Intu Properties (LON:INTU) the picks of the bunch.