LONDON (AFX) - Leading shares are expected to edge higher at the open, mirroring slight gains on Wall Street overnight, as a further dip in the price of oil offsets caution ahead of the Bank of England's rate decision, dealers said.
Spread bettors CMC Index expect the FTSE 100 index to open around 7 points higher having closed yesterday off 21 points at 5439.8.

MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,439.8 down 21.1
FTSE 250 7,989.2 down 19.5
DJIA 10,546.20 up 6.50
Nasdaq Comp 2,175.81 up 3.74
S&P 500 1,220.65 up 2.05
Tokyo: Nikkei 14,080.88 up 8.68
Hang Seng midday 14,579.97 down 17.58
Gold 464.00 usd (461.45 usd)
Oil - Brent Dec 56.88 usd (57.81 usd)

TODAY'S PRESS
* Blair suffers blow to power; Commons votes against 90-day terror detention; nearly 50 Labour MPs rebel; PM angrily attacks 'irresponsible' parliament - FT
* Online casinos face advert crackdown - FT
* Microsoft concern at 'technology-lag' - FT
* John Caudwell, the billionaire founder and owner of Caudwell telecommunications group, to try to sell his entire business rather than float it, in a deal that could value his empire at more than 1 bln stg - FT
* Roche, the manufacturer of the main drug to treat pandemic flu, stands firm against pressure to cut prices in the developing world - FT
* Former OFT chief urges inquiry into 'abuse' of market position by supermarkets; John Bridgeman criticises TESCO's corner shop role - Guardian

PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on Sipps (unregulated nature of Sipp investments raises fears of another mis-selling scandal; the tax breaks may also be too generous to last; the UK pensions industry will, therefore, be watching for a crackdown from the Treasury), Microsoft (to prosper further ahead Microsoft needs to become more nimble at pursuing internet services opportunities), ECB/sovereign debt (ECB could remind investors that it is under no obligation to take individual governments' debt on its books), Deutsche Telekom (if Telekom is wrong, and the sector simply needs to invest more, permanently, then recent deals start to look even more expensive than first thought), Speciality chemicals (further rationalisation of product portfolios is needed; more problems, however, could be emerging in a less prominent part of the industry: leveraged buy-outs) - LUMINAR (talk that Alchemy is no longer interested in buying its entertainment division)
Independent
THE INVESTMENT COLUMN: ISOFT (has further upward momentum), ROBERT WISEMAN DAIRIES (sell), REDROW (worth keeping)
Telegraph
QUESTOR: FIRSTGROUP (worth holding), NEW STAR (avoid for now, but watch for weakness; existing investors should hold), FENNER (buy)
Mail
LLOYDS TSB (poised to unload Scottish Widows for 6 bln stg) - GENERICS GROUP (whisper it is beginning the flotation process for CMR Fuel cells, in which it holds a stake of around 15 pct)
Express
SHARE WHISPER: BTG (dealers anticipate strong half-year figures today)
Times
GREGGS (finance director sells a further 147,200 stg of shares) - TEMPUS: ROBERT WISEMAN DAIRIES (near-term share price underperformance is likely), FIRSTGROUP (hold), FENNER (hold)