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FTSE Preview: Shares flat, caution on house market

By Reuters
Updated: 03:37 EDT, 22 December 2010

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The FTSE 100 is expected to open flat as investors pause for breath after the index hit a 30-month high in yesterday's session.

It gained 60.2 points to close at 5,951.8, its highest finish since June 2008.

Worries about the housing market could dampen sentiment after a downbeat forecast from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. It said prices could fall by about 2% next year but the decline could be more than twice that size if government spending cuts derail the recovery.

Investors are also awaiting the final reading of third-quarter GDP data at 9.30am for more clues on how fast the economy has been recovering from recession.

But economists expect the final estimate of economic growth between July and September to be unrevised from an earlier estimate of a 0.8% increase for the quarter and 2.8% on the year.

Minutes from the December meeting of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee meeting will also be released. At its last meeting, all but one of the MPC voted to leave interest rates at their record low of 0.5%.

Andrew Sentance is likely to have repeated his lone call for tighter policy and Adam Posen will probably have voted again for a further injection of stimulus. Analysts will be scouring the minutes for signs other MPC members were leaning towards either man's view.

No major British company was set to report on Wednesday.

Stocks to watch today include:

Rio Tinto: The global miner is finalising a $3.8bn takeover bid for Africa-focused Riversdale according to sources, upping an earlier offer as it seeks to gain key coking coal supplies amid soaring demand from India and China.

GlaxoSmithKline: A former GlaxoSmithKline lawyer indicted last month for obstructing a US Food and Drug Administration investigation into the company's marketing of antidepressant Wellbutrin was advised by major law firm King & Spalding, according to a document filed in court by her defence team.

Wincanton: Traders cited bid talk as the reason for a surge in the shares of the transport services firm on Tuesday, the Daily Express Market Report said, adding the company has been mooted as a potential target for Swiss logistics group Kuehne & Nagel and Stobart Group.

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