Wall Street has opened lower after some disappointing economic figures and the shock assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan.
The news of Bhutto's death sent metals - especially platinum and gold - higher as investors sought a safe haven from the potential turmoil ahead, while oil was also lifted again, ahead of some US inventory figures due later. US crude stocks are expected to show a 1m barrel or so drop last week after bad weather in Texas and the Gulf hit imports.
Meanwhile the market has also had to digest weaker than expected US durable goods orders, rising 0.1% in November against forecasts of a 2% increase.
James Knightley at ING Bank said there were signs that durable goods orders and investment would continue to slow, adding to the downside risks for growth and therefore interest rates. "We continue to believe that these concerns will more than offset the Fed's near-term inflation worries, and lead to rates coming down 3.5% in the second quarter of 2008," he said.
So at the moment the Dow Jones Industrial Average is nearly 60 points lower, although the UK market seems to be holding up fairly steadily. The energy companies, boosted by oil prices and talk of a cooler spell of weather to come, are keeping the FTSE 100 in positive territory. Cairn Energy is up 75p to £29 while National Grid, British Energy and Scottish & Southern Energy are all around 2% higher.
