- Crucial day for Europe, ECB decision eyed- Bank of England expected to hold fire- Whitbread, Morrisons and miners lead risersSome strong gains from Whitbread, Morrisons and host of miners assured that the Footsie got off to a decent start on Thursday morning, as markets awaited a pivotal policy decision from the European Central Bank (ECB) this afternoon.All eyes are on ECB President Mario Draghi who is expected to reveal details of the bank's bond-buying programme to bring down yields in peripheral nations. "If yesterday's hearsay from unnamed ECB sources is anywhere near close to being accurate then it's certainly building up expectations as to what President Draghi has to say at today's press conference, with the hope that the reality matches yesterday's raised expectations," said market analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets.According to media reports yesterday afternoon, unnamed central bank officials have said that Draghi will announce unlimited purchases of short-dated government debt (with maturities of up to three years) that will be sterilised, though the ECB would refrain from setting a public cap on yields. However, according to Michael Fuchs from Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party yesterday, Germany would oppose the ECB's bond-buying plan if it purchases "too much" sovereign debt without ensuring that these nations agree to strict conditions. The UK's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will also release its policy decision at noon, though the consensus estimate is for the Bank Rate to be left at 0.5% and the asset purchase programme to be maintained at £375bn. "With the additional £50bn of QE announced in July not due to be completed until the end of October, we expect no change in policy before November," said analysts at Barclays.FTSE 100: Whitbread and Morrisons impress early onHotel, restaurant and Costa coffee owner Whitbread jumped in the opening hour after reporting second-quarter sales growth of 14.8%, up from 13.9% in the first three months of the year. "Our brands have outperformed in a tough economic climate," said Chief Executive Andy Harrison.Supermarket group Morrisons also gained after seeing underlying profit rise 1% and turnover increase by 2.3%."With ongoing commodity inflation continuing to weigh on already fragile consumer confidence and market conditions becoming ever more challenging, we have had to work even harder for our customers during the first half," said Chairman Ian Hibson.Mining stocks were also in demand early on with investors hoping that additional stimulus measures in Europe could provide a boost to the global economy. Antofagasta, Fresnillo and Vedanta were among the best performers.Chemicals group Johnson Matthey fell after JPMorgan Cazenove downgraded its rating on the stock to 'neutral', while banking group Barclays was down after Credit Suisse also cut its recommendation to 'neutral'.FTSE 250: Lonmin gains on union dealSouth Africa-focused platinum miner Lonmin rose strongly on reports that it has reached an agreement with some of its labour unions following a wave of protests over the last few weeks.Electrical retailer Dixons rose after saying it made an 'encouraging' start to the year with decent growth in the UK, Ireland and Northern Europe, though trading in Southern Europe continues to be tough.easyJet gained after saying that it carried 6% more passengers in August. Yesterday the firm also announced that it would introduce allocated seating in its planes.FTSE 100 - RisersWhitbread (WTB) 2,207.00p +5.15%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 294.00p +4.74%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,130.00p +3.10%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,688.00p +3.05%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,615.00p +2.48%Vedanta Resources (VED) 898.00p +2.39%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 329.50p +1.76%Polymetal International (POLY) 973.50p +1.72%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 301.00p +1.65%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,762.50p +1.64%FTSE 100 - FallersAdmiral Group (ADM) 1,108.00p -1.60%Prudential (PRU) 778.00p -0.70%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 670.50p -0.37%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,935.00p -0.36%Barclays (BARC) 181.50p -0.25%Aviva (AV.) 326.80p -0.21%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 650.50p -0.15%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,404.00p -0.08%Pennon Group (PNN) 736.50p -0.07%Vodafone Group (VOD) 176.40p -0.06%FTSE 250 - RisersLonmin (LMI) 557.00p +5.19%Avocet Mining (AVM) 89.80p +3.46%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,060.00p +2.91%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 35.49p +2.87%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 79.95p +2.76%Invensys (ISYS) 244.90p +2.60%NMC Health (NMC) 190.80p +2.58%Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 461.40p +2.49%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 592.50p +2.42%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 151.00p +2.37%FTSE 250 - FallersRank Group (RNK) 129.10p -1.07%Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 484.90p -1.02%Witan Inv Trust (WTAN) 467.20p -1.02%Betfair Group (BET) 704.50p -0.98%Menzies(John) (MNZS) 619.00p -0.80%Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 523.50p -0.76%London & Stamford Property (LSP) 119.10p -0.75%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 655.50p -0.68%CSR (CSR) 312.00p -0.57%Diploma (DPLM) 435.50p -0.57%FTSE TechMARK - RisersTimeweave (TMW) 22.00p +12.82%Pace (PIC) 174.00p +2.35%Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 2.10p +1.20%Phoenix IT Group (PNX) 142.00p +0.71%E2V Technologies (E2V) 126.00p +0.60%Corin Group (CRG) 55.00p 0.00%Innovation Group (TIG) 20.25p 0.00%Triad Group (TRD) 6.25p 0.00%Parity Group (PTY) 20.00p 0.00%Torotrak (TRK) 37.50p 0.00%FTSE TechMARK - FallersAntisoma (ASM) 1.51p -4.43%Ark Therapeutics Group (AKT) 2.75p -4.18%Optos (OPTS) 166.34p -2.08%BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 14.50p -1.69%Kofax (KFX) 273.00p -1.09%Consort Medical (CSRT) 735.00p -0.68%Psion (PON) 87.50p -0.57%Corin Group (CRG) 55.00p 0.00%Innovation Group (TIG) 20.25p 0.00%Triad Group (TRD) 6.25p 0.00%
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