After a bright start, leading shares are ending the month on an uncertain note, with British Airways among the fallers after news it will not sign its merger agreement with Spain's Iberia this month.
BA said "technical issues" had prevented the deal beeing agreed in the first quarter of 2010 - that is, by midnight tonight - as expected. But it would be signed in due course. Shares in the airline - which is also in the middle of a bitter dispute with cabin crew - have dipped 2.8p to 242.2p.
Meanwhile the FTSE 100 is virtually unchanged at 5673.31, up 0.99 points, having earlier reached 5698.47. But traders pointed out that volumes were low ahead of the long bank holiday weekend.
Despite most markets being closed on Good Friday - the US bond market is an exception - the key US non-farm payroll numbers are due to be released that day. So there is some uncertainty ahead of that, with traders wary of trying to second guess the outcome. The concensus forecast is for a rise of 184,000 in the jobs numbers, and there could be some clues this afternoon with the release of the ADP private sector jobs numbers. Jim Reid at Deutsche Bank said:
ADP has been a phenomenal predictor of nonfarm payrolls. In December 2009, ADP came out at -84k and nonfarm payrolls came out at -85k. In January 2010, ADP was reported at -22k and nonfarm payrolls were reported at -20k. Then in February ADP printed -20k and nonfarm payrolls printed -36k. However the longer-term track record is far more mixed.
Elsewhere BSkyB is still the biggest riser, up 17p at 599p after positive analyst reaction to the Ofcom proposals on the amount the company charges for some of its sports channels. The general verdict - not as bad as feared.
Unilever is 38p higher at £19.50 after a positive note from Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, which has moved from neutral to buy. BG is 7p better at £11.38 following a buy note from Deutsche Bank.
Banks are edging higher, while miners are also on the way up, with Xstrata adding 16p to £12.46.
