Ahead of the US market opening the FTSE 100 is down 30 points, having dragged back some of the ground lost at the open this morning.
We had better-than-expected retail figures, and now US jobless figures have now pointed to a slight improvement in the US jobs market.
Stock index futures suggest the Dow will open up 46 points, while the S&P is expected to rise 6.9 points - in each case a rise of about 0.5%.