The FTSE 100 was up 0.2 per cent at 6,686 in early deals. It has not closed above this level since 24 September when it settled at 6,706.27.

Data showed that Japan unexpectedly sank into recession in the third quarter, sparking hopes that prime minister Shinzo Abe will delay another planned hike in the sales tax.

After a revised 7.3 per cent contraction in the second quarter, the Japanese economy contracted by an annualised 1.6 per cent in the July-September period, surprising analysts’ who had expected a rebound of 2.1 per cent.

According to various, Abe is expected to be planning a stimulus package focused on consumer spending and could also call an early election.

“The market appears to be expecting some sort of confirmation of the above packages with the Nikkei +2.2 per cent and Topix +2.1 per cent as we type,” said analysts at Deutsche Bank this morning.

Meanwhile, house prices in China declined for a second straight month, falling by 2.6 per cent year-on-year in October. This was the worst annual decline since the data series began in 2011 and double the drop anticipated by the market. The property market accounts for 15 per cent of China’s economy.

Pace, Balfour Beatty, Smiths Group

Pace was a high riser on the FTSE 350 on Tuesday after the pay TV and broadband services group said it expects a record fourth quarter with profits and margins in the third quarter ahead of expectations.

Civil engineer Balfour Beatty was also higher after reporting trading in line with expectations with orders flat at £11.7bn at the end of the third quarter.

Smiths Group declined early on after saying that first-quarter underlying results were lower than last year as growth in the medical division was offset by weakness in the detection and interconnect businesses.

Mining stocks were putting in a mixed performance with precious metal peers Randgold and Fresnillo making gains and Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Glencore trading lower.

Market Movers
techMARK 2,864.83 +0.22%
FTSE 100 6,686.16 +0.21%
FTSE 250 15,701.70 +0.34%

FTSE 100 – Risers
Royal Mail (RMG) 478.10p +2.22%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,413.00p +2.18%
Fresnillo (FRES) 751.00p +1.97%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 464.70p +1.31%
WPP (WPP) 1,292.00p +1.17%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,065.00p +1.04%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 183.30p +0.99%
Next (NXT) 6,680.00p +0.98%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 641.50p +0.94%
Friends Life Group Limited (FLG) 336.00p +0.90%

FTSE 100 – Fallers
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,210.00p -1.94%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,515.00p -1.88%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 924.90p -1.22%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 227.55p -0.65%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,038.00p -0.65%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,364.00p -0.62%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 423.10p -0.59%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,572.00p -0.57%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 885.00p -0.56%
Glencore (GLEN) 329.95p -0.54%

Source: ShareCast