Morning Markets: FTSE stalls as Election call looms

The FTSE 100 was marginally up in early trading, by 0.06% or 3.41 points to 5,748, only a few hours before the Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to call a General Election for 6 May.

Miners were among early morning risers. Leading the pack, Xstrata rose 1.62% to £13.21. Other winners include Admiral Group which advanced 1.2% to £13.48, while SEGRO was up 1.04% to 321.3p.

The morning's losers included Petrofac, diving 6.07% to £12.08, while BAE Systems dropped 2.01% to 366.3p.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones edged closer to the 11,000 mark, bolstered by positive economic news.

The benchmark closed up 0.43% or 46.48 points to 10,973, after a recent jobs report showed the best growth in employment for three years and a rise in home sales data.

In Asia, profit-taking ended successive days of 18-month highs on the Nikkei. The index slipped 0.5% or 56.98 points to 11,282.

Car parts manufacturer Clarion Co was the biggest loser, dropping 9.05% to ¥211.