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- Liva & Laia : 15th November
Britain's FTSE 100 is seen opening flat on Wednesday according to financial bookmakers as a surprise drop in consumer confidence in the U.S. weighed on Wall Street overnight, setting the scene for a subdued session in Europe.
The FTSE is seen opening between 3 points higher and 5 points lower, after closing 0.1 percent lower at 5,159.72 in a choppy session on Tuesday.
Hefty gains over the course of the summer have seen UK shares rally 21.4 percent in the three months to September, the FTSE 100's best quarterly performance since the index was launched in 1984.
The FTSE 100 has also risen 16.4 percent so far this year, just a touch below gains in the 12-months of 2006, supported by a recovery in corporate earnings and encouraging macro economic data since shares hit a floor in March this year.
Ex-dividend factors will knock 0.72 points off the index, with Alliance Trust, International Power, Inmarsat, Liberty International, Tullow Oil and WM Morrison all losing their dividend attractions.
British consumer morale saw its biggest one-month jump since 1995 in September to notch its highest level since January 2008, the GfK/NOP consumer confidence barometer showed on Wednesday.
Attention in the afternoon will turn to the final reading of the GDP data for the United States in the second quarter at 1230 GMT, which is expected to show that the economy shrank at an annualised rate of 1.2 percent.
Meanwhile U.S. ADP employment figures for September, due at 1215 GMT, are expected to show a drop of 210,000.
* US STOCKS-Confidence data hits market; Nike rises
* Nikkei flat in cautious trade, economic data eyed
* GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares up, Aussie at 13-mth high
* Oil up to $67 on dollar slip, China growth
* Dollar slips vs yen, retail data lifts Aussie
* TREASURIES-Mixed data keeps long bonds in favor
* PRECIOUS-Gold firms, eyes best quarter since Q1 2008
UK stocks to watch on Wednesday are:
GLAXOSMITHKLINE
The drugmaker's bid to sell its Cervarix cervical cancer vaccine in the United States faced further delay on Tuesday and the company recalled a batch ofthe vaccine in Britain following a teenager's death. Health officials, however, said the dose was "most unlikely" to have caused her death
BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO
Several tobacco companies, including British American Tobacco plan to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a May ruling in a racketeering lawsuit that requires them to disclose more about the dangers of smoking and bars them fromselling cigarettes as "light" or "low tar."
UK INTERNET ADVERTISING
Spending on Internet advertising in Britain grew 4.6 percent in the first half of 2009, outperforming the wider advertising sector, which slumped 17 percent, and making it the country's biggest ad medium ahead of TV, according to the biannual report from the Internet Advertising Bureau
BP
The oil major said on Wednesday its 137,000 barrels-per-day Australian refinery had been partially shut down since Monday due to a technical failure.
MARKS & SPENCER GROUP
The retailer reports second quarter results.
MAN GROUP
The hedge fund manager releases a first-half trading update.
SMITHS GROUP
The engineering firm reports full-year results.
THOMAS COOK
The travel firm releases a trading update.
BABCOCK INTERNATIONAL GROUP
The engineering support services company releases a trading update.
MISYS
The IT firm releases a trading update.