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FTSE preview: Jitters ahead of inflation figures

By Reuters
Updated: 03:27 EDT, 16 November 2010

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The Footsie was expected to retreat by 20-33 points on the open following overnight falls on Wall Street and in Asia.

Stock Market Financial Trading Screen in Green - Buy

Investors are also cautious ahead of inflation figures due out later.

The FTSE 100 closed 23.54 points higher yesterday at 5,820.41, supported by a recovery by miners and banks and better than expected US retail sales.

But US stocks reversed early gains as the strong data raised concerns the Federal Reserve may scale back efforts to stimulate the economy.

The focus today will be the CPI inflation figure, forecast to have risen 0.2% percent in October after remaining unchanged in the previous month. The year-on-year increase is expected to be steady at 3.1%.

Investors will also keep a close eye on developments in Ireland. Eurozone finance ministers will meet in Brussels for talks on easing Ireland's debt crisis. Meanwhile, the country continues to resist pressure to seek a state bailout, insisting only its banks may need help.

Stocks to watch today include:

BHP Billiton: The global miner has not given up on large acquisitions and does not regret spending $875m pursuing three deals that failed over the past two years, chairman Jac Nassar said. He added that BHP will consider further share buybacks, but not before February when it releases its first-half results.

Xstrata: The miner will reactivate its Sinclair nickel mine in Australia after suspending operations due to the global financial crisis, the company told Reuters.

Rolls-Royce: The engine maker has asked Airbus EAD to return some Airbus A380 engines from production lines to use them to replace faulty ones on airplanes already in service.

AstraZeneca: The drugmaker is reported to have hired JPMorgan to help it sell Astra Tech, a Swedish unit that makes dental implants and medical devices, for about $2bn.

John Wood Group: Haillburton is on the verge of bidding £3.1bn for the oil and gas services contractor, the Daily Mail's market report revealed.

British Land: The real estate firm posts first-half results.

Burberry: The luxury goods group reports first-half results.

C&W Worldwide: The telecoms firm delivers first-half results.

Rexam: The beverage can manufacturer issues a trading update.

Smiths Group: The engineer holds its annual general meeting.

ITV: The broadcaster issues a third-quarter trading update.

TalkTalk Telecom: The telecoms provider posts first-half results.

Enterprise Inns: The pubs operator reports full-year results.

EasyJet: The discount airline posts full-year results.

Premier Oil: The North Sea oil explorer issues a trading update.

John Menzies: The distribution group issues a trading update.

HSBC Infrastructure: The infrastructure investor posts first-half results.

Vectura: The inhaled drugs delivery group posts first-half results.

Oxford Instruments: The medical equipment firm reports first-half results.

Trifast: The engineer reports first-half results.

Hyder Consulting: The enviromental consultancy reports first-half results.

Dunelm Group: The retailer holds its annual general meeting.

Antisoma: The biotech group holds its annual general meeting.

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