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The broker raised its price target for the company from ￡20 to ￡25 and lifted its long-term earnings forecasts to around 10pc above consensus. Liberum Capital said the change in forecast was partly down to raised profit expectations for Johnson Matthey's precious metals activities.

Other winners included Imperial Tobacco, which rose 19p to ￡18.93 on a smaller-than-expected jump in Spanish tobacco taxes. Madrid said the tax rise would raise €780m (￡639m) a year – less than many had anticipated – under a package of reforms it hopes will calm investor concerns about its economy.

Away from the leaderboard, speculation continued to grow about the future of Kesa Electricals, owner of high street retailer Comet, following the release of a note from UBS.

Earlier this week, activist investor Knight Vinke raised its stake in the Kesa to 7pc, fuelling suggestions that a break-up of the chain could be imminent. Shares in the company rose 0.4 at 174p as UBS analysts Adam Cochrane and Andrew Hughes speculated that Knight Vinke "may try to instigate a one-off return of capital". This may come through a sale and leaseback of €300m of the company's French property, disposing of either Comet or one of its emerging businesses or increasing financial gearing at the company, they said.

However, the analysts had doubts over whether Knight Vinke's position was likely to be enduring. "The investment has attracted investor speculation and interest but we are unsure as to what long-term shareholder value can be created ahead of what the current management is already undertaking."

Among the laggards, shares in Man Group shed 9.6 to 279.1p as Numis Securities cuts its rating for the hedge fund manager to "reduce" from "hold" in an otherwise neutral review of UK asset managers.

Luxury retailer Burberry also fell out of fashion yesterday. The company found itself among the losers after a short rally – which saw the shares jump by over 10pc in two days – came to an end.

Shares in the company retreated 20p to ￡10.79 despite Seymour Pierce initiating coverage on the company with a "buy" rating. Kate Calvert, retail analyst at the broker, said the brand has been "reinforced as a modern, trend setting, 'must have' luxury brand".

"The business model continues to change as management tackles many of the distribution issues and moves to a retail-led business model. The full benefits of many of these actions are yet to come through profit wise."

The financial services sector was also subdued as insurers weighed on the market. Old Mutual fell 3.1 to 120.1p, Aviva slipped 5.8 to 379.5p while Standard Life closed down 2.2 at 206p.

Bucking the trend was St James's Place, the mid-cap wealth manager. It jumped 14.9 to 268p in a delayed response to a rebound in the wider insurance sector earlier this week.

Barrie Cornes, insurance analyst at Panmure said: "The last few days have seen the insurers bounce as fears over Irish debt eased after confirmation that exposures are relatively small and manageable. At St James's Place the shares missed the rally earlier in the week but bounced having been relatively left behind." Director share dealing, lack of Irish debt exposure and a general recovery in the mid-cap market also helped.

The FTSE 250 closed up 5.37 at 11082.17, helped by a late dash by online grocer Ocado to the top secondliner's leaderboard. The company, which has been criticised since its controversial 180p-a-share flotation in July, saw its shares close up 16.6 – or 11pc – to 170p on suggestions that US investors were buying into the business.

3pm: US unemployment rises

The benchmark FTSE 100 index fell during afternoon trading after an unexpected rise in US unemployment.

The blue-chip index fell by 0.2pc to to 5,756.77 as data revealed that 39,000 jobs were created in the world's largest economy last month - significantly less than economists had predicted.

The news led a retreat in US shares with the Dow Jones sliding 30.99 points to 1,217.8 during early trading.

12pm: Markets await US data

Mining shares topped the leaderboard at midday as attention shifted away from Eurozone debt.

Fresnillo rose 3.45pc to ￡15.58, while Kazakhmys was up 1.48pc to ￡15.09 and Antofagasta advanced 1.42pc to ￡14.33 as metal prices rose across the sector, which was also buoyed by Walter Energy's $3bn (￡1.91bn) takeover of Western Coal.

Gerard Lane, equity analyst at Shore Capital was bullish on the sector's prospects in the lead up to Christmas:

“Given the rise in metal prices of late we suggest that the mining sector’s earnings are likely to continue to be revised higher and given its low valuation we remain positive on the sector.”

Elsewhere, shares in Man Group shed 2.8pc as Numis Securities cuts its rating for the hedge fund manager to "reduce" from "hold" in an otherwise fairly neutral review of British asset managers.

Numis said it has "marked to market its forecasts for all companies under coverage to a consistent date as of 30/11/10 to reflect movements in performance, markets and foreign exchange since we last published on each of the individual companies."

For Man Group, the broker pointed out that its main AHL fund had returned a fall of 5.1pc since its chief executive said it was performing well in a QE2 (quantitative easing) market, meaning it has a negative mark to market as a consequence.

Burberry was also among the largest fallers despite Seymour Pierce initiating coverage on the company with a "Buy" rating.

In her recommendation, Kate Calvert, retail analyst, said: “The brand has been reinforced as a modern, trend setting, ‘must have’ luxury brand. The business model continues to change as management tackles many of the legacy distribution channel issues (historic license and wholesale agreements) and moves to a retail-led business model. The full benefits of many of these actions are yet to come through profit wise.”

Despite this, shares in the company were down 1.82pc to ￡10.79 by midday as the company reversed recent gains – which had seen shares in the company jump more than 10pc in just two days.

9am: Footsie flat in early trading

After the biggest two-day rally for the FTSE 100 since May, investors held their breath as they awaited US employment figures.

Financial shares took the biggest knock. Old Mutual fell 2pc to 121p and Man Group shed 2.5pc to 281p.

In Paris the CAC 40 slipped 0.8 percent to 3,744.24 points while the Frankfurt DAX dropped 0.14 percent to 6,947.31.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average hit a fresh six-month high intraday high at one point, before edging up just under 0.1pc to 10,172.89.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.1pc to 23,479.92.

Oil prices hovered near $88 a barrel, with losses tempered by hopes that demand for crude will improve. In currencies, the dollar was down against the yen but up against the euro.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its biggest two-day rally since July, closing up nearly 1pc to 11,362.41as US home sales and retail purchases topped estimates.

Friday's Market report:

US roadshow delivers new Ocado investors

Thursday's market report:

FTSE today: market report - as it happened Dec 2, 2010

GKN in fast lane as FTSE driven up 2.2pc

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Traders cited a short squeeze is GKN which helped to lift the engineer, but there were also signs that the American heartening because market is continuing its recovery - sales in November were up 17pc on the previous year.

GKN has previously named North America as a "key target market" and the company told analysts in August that it hoped to increase its share of the market from 33pc to 45pc in 2014.

Analysts at Jefferies described the because sales data as a positive for GKN and should – at the very least – provide a "feeling fillip". Sense certainly did seem to be on GKN's side yesterday as the shares climbed 15 to 210 p.

Sage surged up 18 to 289p. Having beaten full-year profit expectations on Wednesday, the accountancy software company benefited from positive broker sentiment. Numis upped its stance on Sage to "add" from "hold", p. encouraging growth in the UK and continental Europe.

Amongst the latter-liners, Marston's gained 6.3 to 106 7q after the pubs and brewing group posted profit before tax of ￡ 52 5 m, up from ￡ 21 4 m last time.

Ralph Findlay, chief executive, said: "We have adapted well to market conditions and trends." "We are benefiting from our focused, differentiated strategy as demonstrated by our robust results in 2010 and a strong start to the new financial year."

Analysts at Killik kept their "buy" rating, saying:

"In managed pubs, the success of the group's food offer and new-build strategy continued to drive growth." Like-for-like sales during the year were 1.7% ahead of last year, with food up 2.5% and wet (i.e. beer) up 1.4%. Recent trading (in the eight weeks to 27 November) has seen an acceleration in growth to + 3.0%. "Encouragingly, it looks as if this has been achieved without the need for additional promotion, with operating margins up by one percentage point on the year, largely as a result of tight cost control, lower utility costs and the disposal of 17 lower margin leasehold sites operational."

3. 15 pm: Rachel rollercoaster continues at Desire Petroleum

Ever-volatile Desire Petroleum was in demand as the explore said it had made an oil discovery in the Falkland Islands.

Desire said that preliminary tests at its closely watched Rachel North well indicated it is an oil find sending soaring up to 132 75p 26.75 - gold 25pc - Desire.

Analysts at Evolution Securities said:

"Desire has this morning announced that the Rachel North well has intersected 57 m of net oil pay which is excellent news." Wireline logging is ongoing but initial indications are that the thickest section has good porosity which bodes well for any future flow test and therefore commerciality of the field. "We upgrade to Add and a target price of 180p."

Desire's surge came as the wider market raced ahead. The FTSE 100 gained around 98 points to 5740.67 as the European Central Bank delayed the withdrawl of its stimulus measures.

Jean-Claude Trichet, European Central Bank president, said the central bank will delay its withdrawal of emergency liquidity measures to combat "acute" market tensions. Trichet said the ECB will keep offering banks unlimited loans through the first quarter. The bank will also continue to buy government bonds.

Driving up the leaderboard GKN, which was manufacturing car and change shares. Traders were p. US as sales, which rose 17pc in November from a year earlier.

11. 15 am: TUI Travel leads charge

TUI Travel was enjoying a day in the sun, jumping 14.4 to 228 8 p to top the leaderboard large-cap.

Investors piled into the travel company after its full-year results came in at the top end of market forecasts.

Analysts at Numis kept their "add" rating, saying:

"The statement reads well and TUI reports that it has seen a" sustained improvement in demand since July. "" However, the macro environment remains uncertain. We would highlight two key issues. Position at Corsair agreement has been reached with employees for a turnaround plan. and, secondly, for Summer TUI expects to have minimum cost inflation whilst Thomas Cook said yesterday that it expected 2% cost inflation. "This puts in TUI a strong competitive position."

TUI's rise helped the FTSE 100 gain around 35 points to 5677.44. Speculation that the European Central Bank may announce further measures to stem the region's sovereign debt crisis also lifted feeling.

Analysts at Royal Bank of Scotland said:

"Thursday's ECB meeting could send the first signal that the central bank is on course to step up its purchase program: we continue to look for EEUR100bn of purchases by the beginning of next year, including Spanish securities."

They added:

"With financial contagion gathering pace across countries and sectors, we reiterate our view that there is an urgent need for the ECB to intervene in the market, so as to send a powerful message to global investors that the central bank stands ready to provide an unlimited line of defence for the euro area."

Goal GlaxoSmithKline missed out on the rally. Britain's biggest drug maker shed 9.5 to ￡ 12.21.5 after advisors to the US Food and Drug Administration recommended against wider use of Glaxo's prostate drug Avodar.

9 am: FTSE climbs after Asian stocks rise sharply

Frankfurt's DAX 30 0 42pc to reach 6,895.77 and gained in Paris the CAC 40 pink 0 71pc 3,695.57 to.

Miner Rio Tinto was one of the biggest early risers, up 5pc 2 to 4, 312p after a jump in metal prices.

Rolls Royce, which has endured a month-long scrutiny after one of its Qantas A380 superjumbo engines suffered a blow-out over Indonesia, fell 1. 610p after it emerged Qantas would file a compensation claim to 29pc against them.

Asian stock markets rose sharply on Thursday after improved economic indicators powered big gains on Wall Street that followed - on in Asia.

The overall share rally continued overnight as Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average surged 1. 8pc 10,168.52, hitting its highest level in intraday to more than five months at one point.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 0. 9pc 23,458.74 and the Shanghai Composite index advanced to 1. 6pc to 2,868.49.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 2pc to 11,255.78 in its biggest gain since September 1 after positive employment figures and growing speculation that the European Central Bank could step up its purchases of government debt boosted confidence.

Wednesday's market report:

FTSE today: market report - as it happened Dec 1, 2010

Betfair sinks below float price as FTSE 100 conscientisation

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Proving the only winners yesterday were Barclays gaining 3.15 to 262.95p and HSBC putting on 0.3 to 651.4p.

Even the drug makers were feeling under par, with Shire falling 45p to ￡15.22. GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca shed 36p to ￡12.24? and 50p to ￡30.23 respectively.

Shire's slide came as analysts at Jefferies cut their rating to “hold” from “buy”.

Although Shire is on course for strong earnings-per-share growth, which analysts said made Shire one of the most attractive global pharmaceutical stocks, the broker thought this growth spurt was already priced in.

They also highlighted risks that could curtail ongoing performance for Shire, which has recently gained market share thanks to production problems at its American rival Genzyme.

Analysts pointed out that Shire’s manufacturing capacity is constrained until its new production facility in Lexington comes online, adding that there is uncertainty over when this new site will be approved by the regulatory authorities.

Amongst other risks faced by Shire, according to Jefferies, is a Food and Drug Administration review of cardiac safety in relation to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drugs, due in the first quarter of next year. However, the broker added that it expected the outcome to be “relatively benign for Shire”.

In terms of opportunities for the company, analysts pointed to the chance to break into the attention deficit market in Europe - an opportunity which they said was “largely untapped by Shire”.

Elsewhere, Aim-listed broadband satellite operator, Avanti Communications, hurtled up 72p to 725p after announcing the launch of its HYLAS 1 satellite. Analysts at Daniel Stewart said the launch “effectively launches Avanti itself as a satellite- based communications provider rather than a start-up”.

3.15pm: Weak start on Wall Street sends FTSE 100 further into red

Europe's debt crisis infected sentiment on the other side of the Atlantic too, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing around 136 points to 10959.06.

Hewlett Packard and McDonald's were amongst the biggest fallers in the US, while Amazon ticked up after the National Retail Federation reported a 6.4pc rise in retail sales over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

But news of ringing tills failed to rouse the markets on either side of the Atlantic. With Wall Street on the slide, the FTSE 100 continued on its downward trajectory, shedding around 90 points to 5578.16.

2.30pm: HSBC amongst few stocks on the ascendant

HSBC climbed up a brief leaderboard, gaining 4.9 to 656p as the wider market fell back. The FTSE 100 slipped further into negative territory, shedding around 69 points to 5599.74.

HSBC's rise came despite a downgrade from Ian Gordon, an analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, who cut the bank to "underperform" from "neutral".

Mr Gordon described HSBC as a "safe port in the storm", but asked "perhaps time to edge back out to sea?"

He said that as HSBC had outperformed the other banks during the recent sector pull-back, there were now more “enticing entry levels” offered by Lloyds, Barclays, Deutshce Bank, the French banks “and even RBS”.

Topping the leaderboard, however, was TUI Travel. The holiday operator, which is due to unveil full-year results this week, said it was selling its Thomson Al Fresco business to Homair Vacances. At September 30 last year, the net book value of the assets was ￡10.3m.

Elsewere, Costain slid 11.25 to 198.75p after the construction company said it was in talks with contractors over the financing of an energy-from-waste facility in London after one of them filed for insolvency.

Analysts at Panmure Gordon said:

"The insolvency of the Swiss operator AE&E Inova is unhelpful for the completion, and payment to Costain, of the Belvedere waste to energy plant. Further clarification of the situation is needed before we do anything to our numbers. UK energy policy remains high on the infrastructure agenda; we hope that a sensible solution is found to ensure ongoing sector activity."

12 noon: Resolution caught in the bears' clutches

Resolution was amongst the laggards thanks to a bearish note from JP Morgan Cazenove. The broker started coverage of Clive Cowdery’s insurance buy-out vehicle with an “underweight” rating and a 254p target price.

“While we acknowledge that the poor share price performance of Resolution since launch in 2008 (down 41%) has left the shares undervalued, we think that there are much better stories elsewhere in the sector,” said analysts.

Last year the company bought Friends Provident and in June, Resolution clinched a deal to buy AXA’s UK life insurance businesss.

“We see some industrial logic for the AXA / Friends Provident combination but still think the combined group is one of the least attractive of the listed names from both a cash flow and operating perspective. We see the AXA asset as having the inherited estate (i.e. capital) but less attractive earnings capacity ex this,” said the broker.

Resolution shed 5.7 to 219.4p while the FTSE 100 pared back some of its losses, falling around 15 points to 5653.8.

However, the banks gained some ground in the wake of the Irish bail-out with HSBC putting on 13.3 to 664.4p and Royal Bank of Scotland rising 0.49 to 39.18p.

The FTSE 250 also lost around 15 points to 10793.95. Bucking the trend was Punch Taverns on speculation it could hand over almost 6,000 pubs in an attempt to reduce its ￡3.1bn debt pile.

Analysts at Liberum Capital, who have a "hold" on Punch, said:

"This suggests that new CEO Dyson may withdraw support to the entire tenantedbusiness and hand the pubs over to bondholders.

"This would mean retaining the PLC cash (c40p per share) and diverting it to improve managed pub business (Spirit). This could be worth >40p per share, albeit this is a very subjective valuation."

Punch gained 3.5 to 62.6p.

11.10am: FTSE falls back on debt contagion worries

Having made early gains, the FTSE 100 headed south as the morning wore on. The blue-chips shed around 24 points to 5644.11 as debt contagion worries persisted.

Ben Critchley, a sales trader at IG Index, said: "It’s no secret why investors are still nervous - the worry is that Ireland won’t mark the end of the eurozone crisis and with the economies of Portugal and Spain looking less than robust markets are worried that we could be talking about potential bailouts once again in the not too distant future."

9.30: Irish bail-out gives blue-chips a lift

Royal Bank of Scotland, which is exposed to Irish debt, rose 3.6pc. Barclays, Lloyds, Standard Chartered, HSBC also gained.

The FTSE 100 was up 46 points - or 0.8pc - at 5715 in early trading.

Shares in software firm Autonomy dropped 0.8pc, after falling as much as 9pc last Wednesday when it said talks on a deal it is pursuing had given rise to an additional opportunity, which may cause a delay in its timetable.

Asian markets were mixed in light trading on Monday as they waited to see the impact of a bailout for Ireland and amid caution ahead of a slew of economic data from the US this week

Oil prices rose above $84 a barrel as investors looked to this week's key jobs report for evidence that the US economy is imporoving. Manufacturing, vehicle and retail sales figures for November will also be released, along with factory orders for October.

In currencies, the dollar was up against the yen and the euro.

Tokyo's Nikkei added 0.8pc to 10,125, buoyed by a stronger dollar. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.3pc to 1,895.52 and Australia's S&P/ASX200 gained 0.4pc, to 4,618.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was almost flat - up just 0.06pc at 22,890 - as were exchange in mainland China.

Also helping ease market tensions was news over the weekend that the European Union had agreed to €85bn in bailout loans for Ireland to help it weather its banking crisis.

The rescue deal means two of the eurozone's 16 nations have now come to depend on foreign help and underscores Europe's struggle to contain its spreading debt crisis.

The fear is that with Greece and now Ireland shored up, speculative traders will target the bloc's other weak fiscal links, particularly Portugal. Underlying all those concerns is that the contagion would spread to Spain, a major economy whose implosion would have serious repercussions for the euro.

Worries about an escalation between the Koreas weighed on some stocks. Joint military exercises involving a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier and a South Korean destroyer continued on Monday, nearly a week after a deadly attack on a South Korean island sent tensions soaring in the region.

Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen rising as much as 0.4pc - or 20 points - on Monday. It closed down 30 points at 5668.70 on Friday.

In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones fell 95.28, or 0.9pc, to 11,092. The S&P 500 index was down 8.95, or 0.8pc, to 1,189.40. The Nasdaq composite index fell 8.56, or 0.3pc, to 2,534.56. Overall, stocks ended the week mixed. The Dow ended 112 points lower, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 10. However, the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 17 points for the week.

Monday's Market Report:

Malaise grips markets as FTSE 100 loses 2pc

Friday's Market Report:

Cold front ahead for retail sector, analyst warns, as FTSE 100 slides

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He downgraded his stance on Kingfisher, JJB Sports, HMV and Topps Tiles to "sell" from "hold".Kingfisher fell 4.9 to 6 while JJB Sports lost 0.3 to 6 p 244 p HMV shed 0.5 to 46.25 and Topps Tiles put on 1.5 to 60 p.

At the end of a volatile day, the FTSE 100 recovered earlier heavy losses to close down hereby points to 5668.7.The FTSE 250 shed 25.61 points to 10809.43.

With feeling proving shaky banks and miners found themselves on the red side of the index.

Antofagasta and Vedanta Resources lost to 52p ￡ 13.25 and 68p to ￡ 20.75 respectively.However, taking the biggest tumble was Royal Bank of Scotland falling 2.17 to 38 69p. The state-backed bank was closely followed by Lloyds Banking Group, which lost 2.85 to 61 85p.

4. 15 pm: Capital Shopping Centres again wearing yellow jersey

The FTSE 100 pared back its losses towards the closed, shedding around 31 points to 5667.51

"Going into the last half hour of trading blue chips have been under pressure for much of the day in London and while the index is still down it has recovered strongly off the morning lows." "Once again concerns about just how far the European debt crisis is going to spread this time around are making for charge trade and it is the banks which are amongst some of the biggest losers today," said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG index.

Capital Shopping Centres again topping the leaderboard.Having surged on Thursday on bid interest from Simon Property, the property investor was in demand again, putting it another 18.6 to 399 6 p.

Panmure Gordon moved their stance on SCC to "hold" from "sell".

"Until the EGM is held on 20th December we expect the situation to remain very lively and believe the shares are therefore likely to be subject to active trading, particularly by short-term speculators." "In the long run, if the business stays publicly quoted, the future looks improved with ownership of The Trafford Centre and a strengthened balance sheet," said the broker.

One of Thursday's losers, Betfair, found itself under more pressure.After Investec initiated on the online betting business with a "sell" rating, followed by UBS followed. Analysts at the latter said that liberalization of international betting markets provided "a significant growth opportunity", but should be set against the risk of higher betting tax and of being pushed out of existing markets.

Betfair lost 66p to ￡ 14.05.

12noon: Weir rises we nod from Morgan Stanley

Weir was amongst a bunch of blue-chip winners thin as Morgan Stanley initiated on the engineering group with an "overweight" rating and ￡ 20.00 price target. Weir, which makes pumps and valves, gained 20p to ￡ 17.27.

Analysts said Weir was a "high quality business with exposure to long-term growth markets such as Minerals and Oil & Gas".

But the wider market was in the doldrums during morning trading as mounting debt contagion fears sent investors running for cover.The FTSE 100 was off around 93 points to 5604.93 and the FTSE 250 was down 72 points to 10762.61.

Adding to the market's woes were escalating tensions between North and South Korea and continuing concerns around interest rates in China.

The latter hit the mining stocks, with Antofagasta shedding 59pp to ￡ 13.18 and Vedanta Resources losing 93p to ￡ 20.50.

Banks were again on the decline with Lloyds Banking Group the sharpest faller.It dropped to 61 62p 3.08.

But BT continued to top a brief leaderboard after the telecoms giant sold a 5 5pc stake in Indian IT services group, Tech Mahindra.

"It looks like it's up on the back of the India deal, even though the stake sale is only worth about 60 million pounds at current market prices," said Will Draper, an analyst at Execution Noble.

BT was also boosted by Exane BNP Paribas raising its target price for the company by 20pc to 265p.

9 am: eurozone debt worries keep FTSE under pressure

The FTSE 100 was down 34 points at 5663.89 at 9 am, with worries over the global recovery due to the escalating eurozone debt crisis and Korean tensions weighing on miners and banks.

BT was the biggest riser in the blue chip index - up 3 65pc - after it said India's Mahindra & Mahindra had agreed to buy up to 5 5pc of Tech Mahindra from BT over time at a market price related.BT owns about 30pc of Tech Mahindra.

While recently Joseph Ocado gained around 2pc at the open following reports of interest from Morrisons.

Asian stock markets fell on Friday after North Korea said that any "confrontation escalated" will lead to war and the escalating eurozone debt crisis kept buyers on the sidelines.

South Korea's Kospi fell 1. 3pc, Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 0. 1pc and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0. 1pc.Markets in Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and New Zealand also fell, although Australia's S & P/ASX 200 edged up 0 1pc.

"Most Asian countries are still hesitating about the situation in Korea, and the markets are hesitant about what might happen," said Lee Kok Joo, head of research at Phillip Securities in Singapore.

In Europe, a debt crisis that seemed just weeks ago is now escalating containable, with some experts saying it was only a matter of time before Portugal and Spain - like Ireland and Greece - would be forced to ask for help.

The continent's problems have sent the euro lower against the dollar.

Asian markets were trading without cues from the US, where financial markets were closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen falling on Friday, retreating after gains in the previous two sessions, amid concerns about Europe's crisis with mining stocks likely to pressured by weaker metals prices and debt persist.

The UK blue chip index looks set to shed 21 to 29 points, or as much as 0 5pc, according to financial bookmakers, after it ended up 41.83 points, gold 0 7pc at 5,698.93 on Thursday, in thin volumes.

Friday's Markeet Report:

Cold front ahead for retail sector, analyst warns, as FTSE 100 slides

Thursday's market report:

Coffee and Shopping Capital wake up FTSE 100

FTSE today: market report - as it happened Nov 25, 2010

Wednesday's market report:

Autonomy falls on deal disappointment but FTSE rises

FTSE today: market report - as it happened Nov 24, 2010

Tuesday's market report:

Korean nflict hit already nervous FTSE 100

Monday's market report:

Invensys in decline while Irish woes weigh on FTSE 100

FTSE today: market report - as it happened Nov 22, 2010

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Electricity and gas supplier Scottish & Southern Energy announced today that it is raising its dividend, pushing the company up to 40 per cent to ￡ 11.58. Bank of America - Merrill Lynch analysts were impressed by the provisional results of the generator of electricity, to upgrade their rating on the stock to "buy".

But the FTSE 100 dropped back morning trading with minors weight heavy peppering the classification.Kazakhmys was the largest faller, 47% to ￡ 15.40 excretion .Frapper minors is news that China is stepping up efforts to cool inflation after that it reported an increase in property prices and a trade surplus of more than forecast in October.

Dents also feeling was an uncertain perspective on inflation, the Bank of England, with a second wave of facilitating future moins.Gilt research quantiative fell on the news, with 5-10 years curve gilt - deadlines more likely to be purchased by the Bank – the hardest part.

National events aside, prudence had already defined due to the weakness of Wall Street and waterfalls in Asian stocks.

Yusuf Heusen, Senior Sales Trader, IG index, stated:

"Initially disappointing FTSE this morning the occult the fall of the Wall Street during the night, with investors cash stocks of the previous session performance."Recent gains after the Chinese Government's efforts to curb inflation concerns in particular refunded minors will invite a slowdown in economic growth.?

But the tendency of the fall of bucking BAE Systems, involving 14.5% to 363 p, after a day of investor positive.Investec analysts reiterated their "buy" rating on defence society.

"For the first time in a long time management is talking in terms of top line growth across its extensive portfolio, despite the slowdown in defence budgets and the United Kingdom United States," said the broker.

Tuesday market report:Gold rush is FTSE 100 minor Randgold resources shine

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ZGEN -ZymoGenetics Inc????
TUNE -Microtune Inc????
JASO -JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd????
INTC -Intel Corporation????
SLAB -Silicon Laboratories Inc????
AAPL -Apple Inc????
ARNA -Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc????
BRCD -Brocade Communications Systems Inc???
AVII -AVI BioPharma Inc

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DTPI -Diamond Management & Technology Consultants IncFMCN -Focus Media Holding Limited

Unusual High volume stocks

SCOK -SinoCoking Coal and Coke Chemical Industries Inc

SAFM -Sanderson Farms Inc

CALM -Cal-Maine Foods Inc

ISLN -Isilon Systems Inc

CVLT -CommVault Systems Inc

WCRX -Warner Chilcott plc

INFA -Informatica Corporation

AIRM -Air Methods Corporation

KNSY -Kensey Nash Corporation

CHKP -Check Point Software Technologies Ltd

PWRD -Perfect World Co Ltd

BCSI -Blue Coat Systems Inc

IPCM -IPC The Hospitalist Company Inc

OPEN -OpenTable Inc

ICLR -ICON plc

CISG -CNinsure Inc

ENOC -EnerNOC Inc

MWIV -MWI Veterinary Supply Inc

SVVS -SAVVIS Inc

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DTPI -Diamond Management & Technology Consultants IncFMCN -Focus Media Holding Limited

Unusual High volume stocks

SCOK -SinoCoking Coal and Coke Chemical Industries Inc

SAFM -Sanderson Farms Inc

CALM -Cal-Maine Foods Inc

ISLN -Isilon Systems Inc

CVLT -CommVault Systems Inc

WCRX -Warner Chilcott plc

INFA -Informatica Corporation

AIRM -Air Methods Corporation

KNSY -Kensey Nash Corporation

CHKP -Check Point Software Technologies Ltd

PWRD -Perfect World Co Ltd

BCSI -Blue Coat Systems Inc

IPCM -IPC The Hospitalist Company Inc

OPEN -OpenTable Inc

ICLR -ICON plc

CISG -CNinsure Inc

ENOC -EnerNOC Inc

MWIV -MWI Veterinary Supply Inc

SVVS -SAVVIS Inc

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