London open: Stocks flat ahead of Fed meeting

12th Dec 2012 08:23

The Footsie opened flat on Wednesday morning after hitting a nine-month high the day before, with investors showing caution ahead of the conclusion of the Federal Reserve policy meeting later today.The blue-chip index closed yesterday's session at 5,925, following five days of straight gains. The last time London's benchmark closed higher was on March 19th when it finished at 5,961. However, technical analysts at Digital Look highlighted that the index has been unable to break resistance all year long; this is the fourth time in 2012 that it has attempted to consolidate above 5,900 points, having failed the last three times, which is "statistically odd", they said.Optimism over the 'fiscal cliff' has increased over the last few days following meetings between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner."Both still appear far from an agreement on areas such as entitlement spending and tax reforms, however the fact that we're now getting offers and counter offers means there is progress being made," said market analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari."Unless we see a breakdown in these talks, it suggests that a deal by year end is very likely now," he said.Today's focus will be on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting with analysts expecting the Fed to announce a new long-term bond purchase programme valued at $45bn per month as "Operation Twist" comes to an end. Some 48 out of 49 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg are expecting new stimulus on top of the $40bn monthly mortgage-bond buying programme announced in September, commonly referred to as QE3 (third round of quantitative easing). FTSE 100: Miners gain while Tullow extends lossesMining stocks were in demand this morning as metal prices rose, with Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Randgold and EVRAZ on the up. Anglo was given a lift by Barclays Capital which upped its recommendation for the shares to 'equal weight', while BHP rose after selling its "non-strategic" interests in the East and West Browse Joint Ventures (JV), offshore Western Australia, for $1.63bn.Oil explorer Tullow was a heavy faller after Credit Suisse downgraded its rating on the stock from 'neutral' to 'outperform', saying that it will take some time for investor confidence to return following recent drilling disappointments which have hit the shares by 18% since the start of the month.Standard Life was higher after the insurance group said it had earned £140m from the recent sales of offices in Canada as it attempts to cut its exposure to property as an asset class.Drinks giant Diageo fell after both Nomura and Barclays Capital reduced their target prices for the stock following yesterday's news that it has terminated talks with tequila giant Jose Cuervo.FTSE 250: SuperGroupTrendy fashion retailer SuperGroup dropped despite reporting a 16.2% increase in first-half revenue, in line with market expectations according to Seymour Pierce. Communications and embedded processor technology company Imagination Technologies Group rose after it posted a 27% rise in its half-year revenue to £71.4m.Aerospace engineer Senior gained after saying that positive trading reported in October has continued, with adjusted pre-tax profit in line with expectations in both October and November.Support services company Carillion edged higher after being selected for a series of highways maintenance contracts in Canada that are collectively worth £525m.FTSE 100 - RisersAnglo American (AAL) 1,861.00p +1.53%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,127.00p +1.08%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 172.50p +1.05%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 246.90p +0.98%Evraz (EVR) 254.70p +0.95%Kingfisher (KGF) 274.30p +0.92%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,861.00p +0.87%Next (NXT) 3,739.00p +0.78%Standard Life (SL.) 333.80p +0.72%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,510.00p +0.67%FTSE 100 - FallersTullow Oil (TLW) 1,121.00p -2.52%Polymetal International (POLY) 1,102.00p -1.25%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 263.00p -1.17%Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,070.00p -1.03%Babcock International Group (BAB) 981.00p -0.81%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,440.00p -0.69%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,948.00p -0.68%Meggitt (MGGT) 386.30p -0.62%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 676.50p -0.59%IMI (IMI) 1,066.00p -0.56%FTSE 250 - RisersNew World Resources A Shares (NWR) 257.00p +4.90%Senior (SNR) 209.40p +3.71%NMC Health (NMC) 181.20p +3.66%COLT Group SA (COLT) 98.85p +3.40%Telecity Group (TCY) 850.00p +2.22%Renishaw (RSW) 1,880.00p +1.95%Grainger (GRI) 118.00p +1.81%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 54.95p +1.48%Diploma (DPLM) 519.00p +1.47%Drax Group (DRX) 565.50p +1.34%FTSE 250 - FallersImagination Technologies Group (IMG) 421.70p -5.95%Supergroup (SGP) 562.00p -5.78%3i Infrastructure (3IN) 123.30p -2.38%Marston's (MARS) 122.20p -2.24%Investec (INVP) 395.70p -1.67%PayPoint (PAY) 875.00p -1.63%Bumi (BUMI) 280.10p -1.58%3i Group (III) 211.40p -1.45%Anite (AIE) 142.90p -1.45%Mitie Group (MTO) 268.00p -1.36%BC