Leading shares in London are heading for a new high for the year, as Wall Street provides some support by edging higher at the US market open.
The FTSE 100 is currently 28.16 points higher at 5899.91, above the previous closing high for the year of 5891.21 achieved just last week. That in turn was the market's highest level since June 2008.
And this despite the snow hitting retail and travel shares, continuing worries about the Eurozone debt crisis and growing tensions in Korea. A touch of merger news, including Raytheon paying $490m for Applied Signal Technology and AT&T buying wireless spectrum licences from Qualcomm for $1.9bn, has helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average add around 10 points.
However trading, unsurprisingly, is rather thin, as traders wind down for Christmas. Among the retailers Marks & Spencer is down 3.5p at 371.9p while Tesco is off 2.6p at 430.8p. British Airways has lost 4.3p to 265.9p as the weather continues to disrupt its operations.
But banks have recovered early falls, with Royal Bank of Scotland rising 0.69p to 38.51p as a bonus meeting with the government is postponed because of the snow.
Aggreko has added 22p to £15.56 as the temporary power supply specialist unveiled a £37m contract for the London 2012 Olympics.
