The FTSE 100 is expected to decline marginally this morning after rallying 82 points (1.45 percent) to close at 5,775 on Tuesday. The Greek government won the vote of confidence in the Greek parliament yesterday, which makes it likely that the debt-laden country will impose another round of austerity measures, which is necessary to secure more financial aid. Hotel and restaurant group Whitbread (LON:WTB) led the blue chips yesterday, climbing 7 percent. Cruise operator Carnival Corp (LON:CCL) followed with a 6 percent gain. Mining majors Kazakhmys (LON:KAZ) and Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) both tacked on a little more than 5 percent. Sector peer Fresnillo (LON:FRES) rose 4.7 percent. Beverage group SABMiller (LON:SAB) was at the bottom of the pile with a 3.6 percent loss yesterday. Imperial Tobacco Group (LON:IMT) and Financial Times publisher Pearson (LON:PSON) both shed 1 percent. US stocks were on the rise yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) advanced 109 points (0.9 percent) to 12,190. The technology heavy NASDAQ composite surged 57.5 points (2.2 percent) to 2,687. Alcoa (NYSE:AA) led the DJIA constituents yesterday, climbing 4 percent. Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) followed, tacking on 3.3 percent. DuPont (NYSE:DD) and Cisco (NYSE:CSCO) both added around 2.5 percent. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) added 2.2 percent. Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) moved in the opposite direction, shedding 1.3 percent. Commodities US light, sweet crude for August delivery declined to US$93.53/barrel in Asia by morning UK time. Gold edged lower to US$1,545/oz this morning. Silver declined to US$36.26/oz, while platinum held steady at US$1,747/oz. Base metals were in decline this morning. Copper and nickel dropped to US$4.10/lb and US$9.95/lb. Zinc stood at US$0.994/lb. Today’s US data will include mortgage applications and the house price index. The Federal Reserve is set to make a decision on interest rates today, while the Bank of England will release minutes from its latest policy meeting this morning.

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