City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up 20 points from yesterday's close of 6,179, tracking gains seen in the US overnight.

The main Wall Street indices finished the day slightly higher, despite the release of similarly contradictory quarterly results from a batch of corporate heavyweights. Similarly, the latest economic data out on Tuesday was similarly difficult to interpret.

The Federal Reserve's national activity index for the month of December moderated to 0.02 from 0.27 in the previous month.

Meanwhile, existing home sales fell by 1.0% in December to an annualised rate of 4.94m (Consensus: 5.1m). Even so, the amount of homes available for sale did drop to the equivalent of 4.4 months' worth of sales, versus 4.8 months in November.

On the agenda today is the EU consumer confidence indicator, the IMF world economic outlook, and the US House of Representatives vote on the debt ceiling increase.

In the UK, announcements include MPC minutes, the unemployment rate, and the claimant count rate.

In company news, double digit growth in emerging markets helped push Unilever's turnover past the €50bn mark in 2012. The firm added that its Magnum and Sunsilk products had joined its group of brands worth €1.0bn, bringing the total to 14.

Diversified mining giant BHP Billiton expects to deliver a compound annual growth rate of 10 per cent in copper equivalent terms over the next two years, the group said on Wednesday. In its production report for the first six months of its fiscal year, the company said that iron ore production and sales reached a record high for the 12th consecutive half year.

Group revenue rose 4.8 per cent to £303.2m at soft-drinks manufacturer Britvic, according to an interim management statement for the first quarter trading performance. The rise was underpinned by a 5.4% increase in revenue from its British operations and a 4.3% rise in revenue in France driven by average realised prices (ARP).

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