Morning markets: FTSE falls on downbeat Fed comments

The FTSE 100 has fallen 0.3% or 16 points to 5,413.5 in early trading after America’s Federal Reserve said overnight there were “widespread signs of deceleration” in the US economy.

Home Retail fell furthest, down 3.9% to 212.6p after its forecast for full-year pre-tax profit came in the bottom half of analysts' estimates.

Rival Kingfisher, which said in July second half sales had fallen, declined 1.7% to 211.3p.

A 14% rise in first-half pre-tax profits to £410m at Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets beat analysts' expectation, but did not stop shares falling 2.1% to 286.5p.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley recommended a move from overweight to equal weight on 3i Group, sending its shares 1.8% lower to 267p.

Among the gainers, Lloyds Banking Group jumped 1.8% to 73.61p after Barclays Capital uprgraded the bank to equal weight from underweight.

Barclays rebounded 1.1% to 311.5p after falling on the back of Bob Diamond's promotion to CEO.

Elsewhere, ARM Holdings rose 3.3% to 400.3p after unveiling a new processor for smart phones.

On Wall Street, the downbeat news from the Fed did not stop US shares staging a partial rebound after Tuesday's falls, with the Dow Jones climbing 0.5%, to 10,387.01 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also rose.

Boeing was the Dow's biggest riser, gaining 1.7% to $64.50 after announcing it was actively looking for acquisitions.

Asian shares ended higher overnight as easing concerns about Europe weakened demand for the yen as a safe haven. A weaker currency is good news for Japan's exporters, many of which saw their shares rise.

The Nikkei 225 climbed 0.8% to 9,098.39 points, while the Hang Seng rose 0.3% to 21,154.74 points.