LONDON (ShareCast) - City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up two points from yesterday's close of 5,925, edging higher on hopes in the US that law-makers can come to an arrangement over the impending 'fiscal cliff'.

Optimism was sparked at the weekend following President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner's unscheduled face-to-face meeting.

"It appears that negotiations over how to avoid the fiscal cliff at the end of the year are actually starting to go somewhere," said market analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari.

"Details of the discussions between Obama and Boehner haven’t been released but it now appears to be a case of deciding which entitlements to cut back on."

Today's focus will be on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting which concludes today 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).

Today's UK economic announcements include the unemployment rate and the claimant count rate, while abroad readings are expected for the German consumer price index and EU industrial production.

Financial Sales Trader Max Cohen commented that European shares are "expected to continue climbing today buoyed by strength in global equity markets and hope that a deal will be reached from the latest U.S. budget talks".

In company news, mining group BHP Billiton is to earn over one and a half billion dollars from the sale of its interests in the East and West Browse Joint Ventures, offshore Western Australia, as it attempts to exit its non-core assets. PetroChina, China's largest oil and gas producer and distributor, is to buy BHP's 8.33% interest in the East Browse JV and the 20% stake in the West Browse JV for a combined $1.63bn.

Building materials supplier Travis Perkins said like-for-like sales fell in the 11 months to the end of November, as market headwinds continue, but the outlook for the year as a whole remains unchanged. The Northampton based builders merchant said total sales for the period increased 1.6%.

AIM-listed software and services provider IDOX posted a 50 per cent rise in its revenue to 58m pounds in the year ending October 31st, according to annual results published on Wednesday morning. Adjusted profit before tax was up 36% to £14.8m from £11.6m a year earlier and earnings before goodwill, impairment, amortisation, depreciation, restructuring, corporate finance and share option costs rose 44% to £16.7m. The final proposed dividend was 0.40p, compared to 36p in 2011.

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:

• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• STUMBLEUPON
• MIXX
• YAHOO BUZZ
• DELICIOUS
• REDDIT
• NEWSVINE