LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - 1608: Lloyds is holding near the top of the leaderboard after winning court approval to redeem $5bn in so-called CoCo bonds.




1331: Initial US weekly unemployment claims rose by 13,000 in the week ending 5 December (consensus: 270,000).

1330: US import prices declined by 0.4% month-on-month after a drop of 0.5% in the month before (consensus: -0.8%).

1330: Three-month copper futures are down by 0.9% to $4,569.50 per metric tonne in LME trading.

1226: When the Fed raises rates next week it will do so to avoid the risk of financial asset bubbles and create room for easing heading into the next economic recession, "not to control inflation by slowing down growth," Credit Suisse analyst Andrew Garthwaite said. "Thus the likely Fed rate rise doesn't, in our view, signal an equity bear market until: i) the yield curve inverts; or ii) the US reaches full employment (which we think is when unemployment is at c.4% vs 5% currently)," he explained in a research note sent to clients.

1200: The Monetary Policy Committee kept its main policy rate and the size of its asset purchase programme unchanged at 0.50% and £375bn, respectively, as economists had expected.

1037: Shares of Micro Focus are topping the leaderboard after the company's interim figures which revealed a 2% drop in sales, versus guidance for a drop of between 2% to 4%. However, what really matters here is the investment story, says Investec's Julian Yates. "We see prospects for .40% of mkt cap returned in cash over the next couple of years (dividends, B/S leverage, SUSE sale), wjhich would put the stock on a price-to-earnings multiple of 10x. Buy."

0930: The total trade deficit widened markedly in October to reach £4.1bn, up from £1.1bn in the month before. "The trade data are notoriously volatile but the extent of October's shortfall means that net trade is very likely to hold back GDP growth appreciably again in the fourth quarter - after it was a record drag on GDP growth in the third quarter," says Dr.Howard Archer, chief UK+European economist at IHS Global Insight. Exports have been s struggling in recent months against the headwind from sterling strength, versus the euro in particular, he added.

0843: Glencore is leading a rebound in shares of miners after increasing its target for reducing debt and preserving capital to $13bn from $10.2bn previously. TUI was in second place on the leaderboard after its latest annual figures. London-listed South African companies' shares such as Old Mutual and Investec were on the back foot after the country's president fired his finance minister overnight. The MPC decision and minutes lie ahead at noon. As expected, the SNB has kept its main policy rate at -0.75% while New Zealand's Reserve Bank lowered its cash rate by 25 basis points to 2.50%. FTSE 100 down by 25.62 points to 6,101.85.

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