What you need to know before the open – 30/12
A more subdued day of trading is expected today, in the second-to-last session of 2013.
Sedentary start to today's penultimate session for the year in Europe! – FTSE +4, DAX -10, CAC unchanged
— David Buik (@truemagic68) December 30, 2013
European bourses have been seeing strong gains over the last two weeks, with markets hitting five-year highs.
In focus today is the news that the risk of nationalisation for Italy's third biggest bank, Monte dei Paschi, has increased after a delay to crucial fundraising.
Over in Asia, the Nikkei gained 0.7 per cent on its final day of trading – marking the end of a bumper year for Japanese shares – while the yen dipped to new lows for the third session in a row.
Key events:
- Italy business confidence for December at 9.00am. Expected at 99.0 from 98.1.
- US pending home sales for November at 3.00pm. Expected at 1.0 per cent from -0.6 per cent.
- US Dallas Fed manufacturing business index for December at 3.30pm.