Greater London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/05/2010 -- Nick Serff, Market Analyst at financial spread betting provider City Index (http://www.cityindex.co.uk), commented on 2nd November:

"European markets slipped back from their highs going into the close on Tuesday but still managed to post gains of over 1 percent on the session.

Investors decided to book some profits and square up positions ahead of tomorrow’s much anticipated Federal Reserve decision and before the release of any potential surprises from the US midterm elections.

Polls indicate that the Republican Party should win the 39 seats required to take control of the House of Representatives, a move that could potentially please Wall Street but make the Obama administration’s job a little tougher.

However the Fed’s policy statement due Wednesday evening is likely to be the bigger event of the two, due to the amount of build up and expectation now priced into the market.

Oil and gas shares remained amongst the biggest gainers on the FTSE 350 today adding over 22 points to the index. A near 1 percent gain in the price of crude, and a strong set of third quarter results from BG Group helped the sector to its fourth day of gains. Imperial Tobacco was also amongst the best performers after it topped market forecasts with its full year profits."

Do not forget to take a look at the latest indices spread betting prices at http://www.cityindex.co.uk/spread-betting/.

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