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UPDATE: Investors sit on fence ahead of ECB conference

Published: 08:14 04 Oct 2012 EDT

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Investors sat on the fence on Thursday as they waited on the ECB’s meeting this afternoon.

Blue chips traded flat today and the FTSE 100 stood at 5,826 after opening higher this morning.

The central bank’s president Mario Draghi will face questions about the bond-buying plan, unveiled a month ago, aimed at taking the weight off the eurozone and this is likely to see some movement in markets later.

Key is when the programme may actually begin. 

Meanwhile, the central bank announced today it had kept its interest rates on hold.

The conference could also shed some light on how close Spain is to requesting a bailout. 

The county's two-year note yields have risen more than 0.5% since Draghi's plan first emerged.

Earlier, the Bank of England revealed it has not opted to increase quantitative easing (QE) from the current £375 bln level.

US non-farm payroll data tomorrow will also provide investors with some food for thought.

Mike van Dulken, of Accendo Markets, suggested the Footsie could be heading back to mid-September highs of around 5,930.

“Colour from ECB and Fed today could help uptrend continue, as could more positive data from US tomorrow (Non-Farm Payrolls),” said the analyst.

“In a world of grim macro data and stimulus-hopes, however, ‘good data is good, but bad data is gooder’.

“More bad news from China and more extra stimulus could help us higher into year-end, as could the traditional Santa rally," he added.

Supermarket giant Tesco (LON:TSCO, down 2.1% to 321p) continued its descent down the leaderboard after yesterday’s disappointing results, while oil heavyweight BP (LON:BP.) and mining major BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) followed it down, slipping 1.5% and 1.2% respectively.

RBS (LON:RBS, up 1.7%) was among the biggest risers after quashing fears it could struggle to find a buyer for its stake in Direct Line, Britain’s biggest motor insurance firm.

Outside the top flight, Ceres Power (LON:CWR) set a record for the biggest fall by a London-listed company today.

The fuel cell technology company plunged 74% to 2.8 pence per share after revealing it had failed to secure funding and was looking either to sell the business or delist.

US markets

Futures in New York were rising Thursday, extending earlier gains, ahead of today's weekly report on employment data in the US.

The data will show how many people are claiming for unemployment benefits. Also expected is data on factory output.

As in Europe, traders are eargerly awating any feedback from the ECB meeting in Slovenia today.

Dow futures were up 48 points, to 13,474, while Nasdaq futures rose 10.75 points, to 2,818. 

Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 7 points, or 0.48%, to stand at 1,451.

In corporate news, retailers will be in focus today with sales reports out.

Hotel group Marriott (NYSE:MAR) reported third-quarter profit of $0.44 per share, four cents above estimates, with revenue also beating consensus. 

However, its current quarter guidance of $0.52 to $0.56 per share falls short of the $0.57 consensus estimate. 

UK corporate news

Shares in cycle and car parts specialist Halfords (LON:HFD) surged 15% today, after it unveiled interim results.

It reported improved retail trading in the second quarter and City broker Seymour Pierce described the overnight appointment of Matt Davies as chief executive of Halfords (LON:HFD) as "excellent".

Investors cheered this morning's interim statement, and sent the shares up over 15% to 307.10 pence.

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