Despite it being Friday the 13th, Footsie is called to open higher, taking the cue from positive movement in Asian and US markets overnight.
In Japan, eqiuities made good gains with the Nikkei index adding 278 points to 19, 254, while in China the Hang Seng added 63 points, as traders cheered weak US retail sales.
In the topsy turvey interest rate- dominated economic world we live in, the weakness suggested that the Fed would not raise interest rates as early as many may have been thought - prompting the share rise.
Markets have been weaker recently on expectations that the Fed will raise rates soon after very strong US jobs stats.
FTSE 100 did put in a positve finish yesterday, despite erasing some losses to finish 6,761 and is called to open around 10 points higher today.
It's not partucularly busy on the corporate front though half year results from pubgroup JD Wetherspoon (LON:JDW) will be closely scrutinised.
December saw a 2% decline in the group's like-for-like sales compared to a year earlier, while the firm warned that takings had slowed further in January.
The group, which runs over 1,000 UK pubs, laid the blame at the door of flat drink sales (food held up) and the UK tax system, which claimed it favoured supermarkets over pubs.
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