As was expected, the FTSE 100 declined in the morning, shedding a further 0.55% after falling 0.3% on Tuesday and 1.1% on Monday.
InterContinental Hotels (LON:IHG) was the heaviest faller in the FTSE 100, dropping 3.5%.
Rexam (LON:REX) followed, shedding 3.2%. The packaging group released its 2010 results this morning, reporting that total rise rose 2% to £4.96 billion, and that underlying pre-tax profit soared 45% to £412 million.
Investment vehicle Resolution (LON:RSL) dropped 3% after stating that it will achieve targeted returns on the UK life project without making any further acquisitions.
“(Resolution) will not contemplate acquisitions that would dilute the returns likely to emerge from the three acquisitions already made; there is therefore a high threshold for evaluating further acquisitions,” the company said in the statement.
Infrastructure software company Autonomy Corporation (LON:AU) and engineering group Weir (LON:WEIR) shed nearly 3%.
Oil and gas engineering firm Amec (LON:AMEC) advanced 1.8%, taking the lead in the FTSE 100.
Part-nationalised banks Lloyds (LON:LLOY) and Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) followed, tacking on 1.5% and 1% respectively.
The minutes of the Bank of England’s latest policy meeting, which was released today, showed that 3 policymakers voted in favour of increasing interest rates, one more than in the previous month.
Elsewhere in Europe, France’s CAC 40 and Spain’s IBEX 35 added 0.15%, while Germany’s DAX lost 0.3%.
Financial bookmakers are expecting a positive start on Wall Street.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and the S&P 500 index climbed 0.4%, while NASDAQ futures rose 0.5%.
Shares in Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ) tumbled 10.3% in pre-market.
UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) and Applied Materials (NYSE:AMAT) climbed 2.6% and 2.2% respectively.
Carnival Corp (NYSE:CCL) and General Electric (NYSE:GE) were up 1%.
In Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite Index added 0.25%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.35%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.8% and South Korea’s KOSPI shed 0.4%.