9:30AM London was lower in early trading Tuesday on US markets close.
By late morning, the FTSE 100 was down 14 points, or 0.2%, to 6,036.1.

Advancers

ITV led the gainers, up 1.3%. The commercial broadcaster has pulled off a coup by luring Michael Grade, chairman of the BBC, to become its new executive chairman. Grade is very well-known and has a strong broadcasting CV at the BBC, LWT, Channel 4 etc. Given the management vacuum at ITV, this should be taken well by the market.

Still with media, EMI Group jumped 6.5% on reports that the company was in talks with private equity groups about a possible bid worth 2.5 billion pounds or more.

Telecoms firm Kingston Communications posted a three-fold increase in half year pre-tax profit and is confident about trading in the second half. Kingston Communications rose 1.12%.

Tobacco group Gallaher was a leading advancer, up 1.6%. Yell Group firmed 1.3% as Goldman Sachs upgraded the directories company from neutral to buy.

Decliners

Scottish Power was flat despite it agreeing a deal with Iberdrola of Spain, which will buy the company for 11.6 billion pounds in cash and shares.

Old Mutual lost 3.8% as the life assurer said the market and exchange rate factors that had affected third-quarter results were likely to continue into the fourth quarter. Barclays bank dropped 1.7% as bad debts at its Barclaycard credit card unit continued to rise.

British Energy fell 1.5%, Drax Group slid 1.3% and Scottish & Southern Energy was lower by 1.3%. Kelda Group was also lower, down 1%, despite announcing plans to return 750 million pounds to shareholders following the completion of its Aquarion disposal.

BAE Systems lost 1.3% after Saudi Arabia suspended negotiations over the 10 billion pounds purchase of a new fleet of Eurofighter Typhoon jets.


9:00AM Stocks futures were dragged down by a decline in durable goods orders. U.S. stock market futures were sent lower by data, showing a larger-than-expected decline in demand for durable goods orders. As another sign of a slowing economy, the Commerce Department reported that orders for manufactured goods dropped in October by the largest amount in more than six years, following an 8.7% surge in September. Durable goods orders fell a larger-than-expected 8.3% to a seasonally adjusted $210 billion, reflecting a big drop in demand for commercial airplanes, a category that had soared in September. The 8.3% drop in orders for durable goods was the largest one-month decline since a 14% plunge in July 2000.

Among the companies in the spotlight, Palm Inc. (PALM: chart) shares dropped 6% in pre-open trade after it slashed its earnings forecast on a delay in rolling out its Treo 750 handheld device in the US. Nokia (NOK: chart) slipped 0.9% after it said it was cutting its operating margin forecast due to the merger of its network arm with that of Siemens (SI: chart). Hilton Hotels (HLT: chart) dropped 5% after it said it plans to create a joint venture in India with DLF Ltd. to develop and own up to 75 hotels and serviced apartments over the next 7 years.

The dollar advanced vs. the yen but fell against the U.K. pound and the euro. The pound was particularly strong after Spain''s Iberdrola agreed to buy Scottish Power (SPI: chart) for $22.5 billion in a deal that would create one of Europe''s biggest utilities. Crude oil futures rose 36 cents to $60.66 a barrel, while gold futures slipped $1.70 an ounce to $638.90. Standard & Poor''s 500 futures were down 1.8 points, below fair value. Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 9 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 6 points.


8:00AM Air Berlin is planning to order 60 Boeing planes.
Air Berlin Plc announced on Tuesday it is planning to place an order of 60 planes with Boeing Co. The airline said it''s ordering 60 Boeing (BA: chart) 737-800, with deliveries starting in November 2007. It will receive a total of 85 new Boeing planes worth $5.7 billion at list price between 2007 and 2011, including an earlier order for 25 jets. Joachim Hunold, CEO of the airline, said that the airline is ‘exploring alternatives’ for financing the order. A decision whether to bolster the Boeing order and exercise options for 40 Airbus A320s, will be taken the following year.

Europe''s third-largest budget airline also issued a detailed Q3 profit report, showing that earnings advanced 26%. Net income at the airline improved to 38.7 million euros ($50.8 million), up from 30.6 million euros a year earlier, but missed analysts'' expectations. Revenue rose 28% to 510 million euros.

Company’s shares fell 14.3% in Frankfurt midday trading on concerns over a vague outlook and the financing of the fleet expansion.