The FTSE100 was down 11.8 points at 6,093.8 with the FTSE250 down 10 points at 10,125.4 and the FTSE Small caps 7.4 points down at 3,677.4.
Volume was not very good with just 1.8 billion shares changing hands in 224,366 deals.
Wall Street shares moved lower in opening trade amid jitters ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision.
Economists expect the cost of borrowing to rise 25 basis points to 5% but all eyes will be on the accompanying statement for any hints of a pause in rate hikes at the next meeting.
Within the first thirty minutes of trade, the DJIA was down 2.90 points to 11,637.
Speaking of borrowing, I found this article very interesting What's a little debt between friends?
BREAKING NEWS:
US electronic exchange operator (Nasdaq) said it would increase its stake in the UK Stock Exchange to 22.7%. Nasdaq, the US stock market operator, which in March made an unsuccessful attempt to buy the London Stock Exchange, already has the LSE as its biggest shareholder with an 18.7% holding. Today the Nasdaq said it had bought another 10,291,440 LSE shares at 1,248p each, or a total of £128.4 million.
We are pleased to have increased our strategic stake in LSE through this significant purchase, which takes us through the important threshold of 20%. We look forward to working constructively with LSE as its largest shareholder 
Nasdaq CEO, Bob Greifeld, said in a statement.
Nasdaq withdrew a £2.4 billion takeover offer for the LSE on March 30th after the exchange rejected it as too low. Nasdaq has been building up a stake in the LSE since then, buying a 15% stake at 1,175p per share on April 12th, and a further 3.7% holding at 1,218p three weeks later.
Under UK takeover rules, shareholders that lift their stake above 30% must make a full takeover bid.
The Footsieblog shall keep you posted on developments.
Today’s look at individual Stocks:
Old Mutual was the top looser today, down 4.5p at 195.25p, after the insurer's first-quarter trading figures came in below expectations. Total life sales for the first three months of 2006 were £395 million on an annual premium equivalent basis, an 11% increase on the same period a year earlier. In response, Merrill Lynch said although volumes were still healthy they disappointed and were lower than its expectations, as it kept its neutral rating and 208p price target on the stock.
The rest of the sector performed as follows with Royal & Sun Alliance down 2p at 140p, Friends Provident down 2.25p at 192.25p and Prudential also down 7p at 645p.
In the lovely media, ITV slipped 1p to 113.75p (shame) after the broadcaster warned it sees half-year advertising revenues falling about 4% from the previous year, hit by the tough advertising market and a fall in revenues at its flagship television station. The Footsieblog rates this stock a nice SELL.
Oil stocks were hit again today by crude prices on expectations as US inventory data will show gasoline stocks rose again last week, but falls were limited by renewed worries over the Iranian nuclear stand off.
The oil sector stocks performed as follows. BG was down 10p at 746p. BP was down 3p at 680p. Royal Dutch Shell was down 11p to 1,931p and Cairn Energy also fell 47p to 2,433p.
Retailers continued their recent run, with DSG International the main beneficiary on the back of an upbeat trading statement and broker upgrades. The European electrical retailer formerly known as The Dixon’s Group took on 14p to 208p after it said it expects full-year pre-tax profits to come in ahead of current market expectations, between £312 and £318 million. DSG International said it expects its underlying pre-tax profit will be ahead of current market expectations. The company sees strong sales of digital products to continue 'at least' through the period leading up to this summer's World Cup.
However, CEO, John Clare, said:
We remain cautious about the speed of any long term recovery, and much will depend upon wider economic factors in relation to tax, pensions, employment and interest rates
The retailer also noted that electrical markets across Europe performed slightly better in the second half, led by new technology digital products, including flat panel televisions, MP3s and iPods, laptop computers and satellite navigation equipment. In response to all this, WestLB upgraded its stance on the group to 'hold' from 'reduce' with a raised price target of 190 pence, up 20p.
Remaining on the high street, Boots was up 31p at 735p after Morgan Stanley upgraded the company’s rating on the group to 'equal-weight' from 'under-weight'. This follows the Competition Appeals Tribunal concluding that it has no reason to object to the Office of Fair Trading’s view that Boots' proposed merger with Alliance UniChem should be allowed to proceed.
Smith & Nephew was up today 21p at 461p, after the orthopaedics group won approval from the US FDA for its Birmingham Hip resurfacing system, a new metal-on-metal hip-resurfacing product, dealers said.
The news prompted Lehman Brothers to upgrade the stock to 'overweight' from 'equal-weight'. Good news for all those who need a new hip.
Mining stocks were in demand again (are they ever out of the news) as copper moved above $8,000 per tonne and zinc, platinum, gold and aluminium all flirted with record highs.
Kazakhmys climbed 52p at 1,322p. BHP Billiton was up 10p at 1,204p and Rio Tinto was 25p higher at 3,280p.
British Energy was up 9p to 690p following favourable comment from Credit Suisse which said it prefers the stock over peer Drax, up 2 at 844. In a research note initiating coverage of the stocks, the broker adopted a 'neutral' stance on British Energy and an 'underperform' recommendation on Drax.
PartyGaming was 3p higher at 151p after mid-cap rival 888 reported a strong start to the current year, boosted by significant growth in revenues from poker.
