Tate & Lyle led the advancers, up 3.5% as Deutsche Bank lifted its recommendation on the sugar and sweetener group from hold to buy, increasing its price target.

Mining stocks were in focus again. Vedanta Resources gained 3.3%, Xstrata rose 2.7% and Rio Tinto firmed 1.8%.

First Choice Holidays put on 2% after the travel group announced that despite a challenging market, it was on track to deliver strong underlying earnings growth.

Decliners

BSkyB shed 1.7% as the pay-TV broadcaster started trading without rights to the latest dividend payout.

Mid-cap stocks trading ex-div included Brit Insurance, down 2.2%, and Helphire Group, 1.7% lower. Northgate Information Solutions, the IT company, slumped 11.5% as takeover talks ended.

Other news

A consensus seems to be emerging about corporate pensions. It appears, schemes will be taken off the hands of the companies. Pensions are finally closed to new and existing members, and will be most likely passed to an insurance company or the like. Hence, the appearance in the UK of a number of new contenders for this business, among them Goldman Sachs.


9:00AM Stock futures turned mixed ahead of the Fed’s decision.
U.S. stock futures reversed from earlier gains and turned to a lackluster trading, reflecting uncertainty ahead of the Fed Reserve’s decision on interest rates and disappointing news from Boeing Co. However, positive quarterly results released by General Motors and Amazon helped limit losses. The Fed is due to make its interest rate decision public at 2:15 p.m. ET. The economic calendar today also includes the release of existing-home sales for September.

Boeing (BA: chart) reported better-than-expected Q3 earnings and raised its outlook for 2006, but posted lower-than-forecast revenue. The stock fell nearly 1% in the pre-opening hours. On an adjusted basis, General Motors (GM: chart) exceeded forecasts reporting a better-than-forecast profit of $529 million and better-than-expected 3.5% sales growth. GM also narrowed the range of potential liability from auto parts maker Delphi Corp. The Dow component's stock rose nearly 1% in pre-open trading. Ford Motor Co. (F: chart) gained 1.6% in Germany. Shares of Amazon com. (AMZN: chart) rallied 12% after reporting quarterly profit and revenue above the estimates. The company posted sales growth of 24%, though profit dropped 37% to $19 million, or 5 cents a share, from $30 million or 7 cents a share a year earlier.

Elsewhere, RadioShack (RSH: chart) swung to a $16 million, or 12 cents a share, loss in Q3, with revenue down 11% to $1.06 billion and comparable store sales falling 9.6%. Analysts had expected a profit of 17 cents a share on revenue of $1.13 billion. The stock fell 1.2% to $18.67 in pre-open trading. . S&P 500 futures inched 0.30 of a point lower to 1,384.50 while Nasdaq 100 futures eked out a gain of 0.25 of a point to 1,726.50. Dow industrial futures slipped 3 points to 12,173.


8:00AM General Motors reported narrower Q3 loss.
General Motors Corp. (GM: chart) posted a Q3 loss of $115 million, or 20 cents a share, down from a year-ago loss of $1.7 billion, or $2.94 a share. The improved results came as the nation’s biggest automaker began to reap the benefits of its turnaround plan. The quarterly results include charges of $644 million, or $1.13 per share related to a number of items including goodwill impairment at GMAC and an increase in Delphi-associated restructuring charges. Excluding items, the Dow component earned $529 million, or 93 cents a share, with revenue totaling $48.82 billion, compared to $47.18 billion in the same period a year earlier. On the average, a analysts had been waiting for a profit of 49 cents a share. GM said that the strong adjusted earnings were due to its improved global automotive operations. The company also narrowed its estimated potential exposure to Delphi's (DPHIQ: chart) bankruptcy filing to between $6 billion and $7.5 billion on a pre-tax basis. The previous range was between $5.5 billion and $12 billion.


7:30AM Asian markets finish mixed, Japan slips, HK closes flat.
Asian markets finished mixed on Wednesday. The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.5% to finish at 16699.30. The benchmark index slipped, led by brokerage stocks, consumer lenders and electronics. Nomura Holdings reported a 2.5% fall and Aiful dropped 7.2%. Real-estate stocks also fell, with Mitsubishi Estate shedding 2.9%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed flat, rising 0.02% to 18157.94. Rate-sensitive property companies, such as Cheung Kong and Hang Lung Properties, closed lower before the Fed interest-rate decision. Cheung Kong dropped 0.5%, while Hang Lung Properties lost 1.8% and Sun Hung Kai Properties fell 0.2%. China Mobile supported the index, rising 0.5%.

In Seoul, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, gained 0.4% to 1371.43. Hyundai Engineering & Construction advanced 2.4% and GS Engineering & Construction moved higher 4.3%. Australia S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.7%. Singapore Straits Times Index advanced 0.9% and Taiwan Weighted Price Index swung from early gains to end 0.5% lower. Markets in Malaysia were closed for a public holiday.


6:30AM European shares rise on Wednesday on strong earnings reports.
European markets advanced by mid morning on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 in London gained 0.3% to 6,199.8, Frankfurt Xetra Dax added 0.1% to 6,250.51, and the CAC 40 in Paris was 0.3% higher at 5,418.17.