A host of economic data has done little to inspire UK shares ahead of tomorrow's widely watched US non-farm payroll figures.
The FTSE 100 is currently down 10.10 points at 5523.11, despite an opening rise on Wall Street. Pending US home sales unexpectedly fell in January, but factory orders rose 1.7% in line with forecasts. Initial claims for US unemployment benefit dropped 29,000 last week to 469,000, not far different from the predicted 470,000. Analysts are expecting a drop of around 50,000 in non-farm jobs tomorrow.
Meanwhile the Bank of England, as expected, kept interest rates and its quantitative easing programme on hold. The European Central Bank also suggested interest rates on the continent would remain low. Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index said:
We have seen investors look to reduce their holdings in the miners and energy firms with a stronger US dollar triggering commodity price weakness. It is these two sectors that are the main lag in Europe today.
