The FTSE 100 rose marginally on Monday, reaching 5,904. The blue chip index is expected to add 6 points in early trade today.
Insurance sector focused investor Resolution (LON:RSL) and fashion house Burberry (LON:BRBY) led the blue chips yesterday, tacking on nearly 3 percent. Chipmaker ARM Holdings (LON:ARM) advanced 2.5 percent.
Power generation company International Power (LON:IPR) added 2.2 percent.
InterContinental Hotels Group (LON:IHG) was the heaviest faller, slipping 3.8 percent.
Hedge fund manager Man Group (LON:EMG) and gold producer Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) shed just over 2%.
US stocks were in decline yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) shed 22 points (0.2 percent), falling to 12,197. The S&P 500 index dropped 3.5 points (0.25 percent) to close at 1,310 and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite declined 12 points (0.45 percent) to 2,730.
AT&T (NYSE:T) led the DJIA components, climbing 1.8 percent. Verizon (NYSE:VZN) added 1.2 percent.
Home Depot (NYSE:HD) moved in the opposite direction, shedding 2.1 percent. Disney (NYSE:DIS) was down 1 percent.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 declined 20 points (0.2 percent) to 9,457 today.
Commodities
US light, sweet crude for May delivery declined to US$103.75/barrel.
Gold and silver fell to US$1,419/oz and US$37.09/oz. Platinum dropped to US$1,743/oz.
Base metals held steady. Copper and nickel last traded at US$4.33/lb and US$11.88/lb. Zinc stood at US$1.062/lb.
Today’s macroeconomic data will include US consumer confidence and the Case-Shiller house price index, UK mortgage approvals and consumer credit and the final revision of UK GDP for the final quarter of 2010.