[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]City Index UK: The FTSE lost ground in early trading on Tuesday as investors paused for breath after hitting five-year highs in the previous session and markets struggled for direction. Acting as a backdrop was news that the Bank of Japan has raised its interest rate target to 2% and an announcement that it will undertake a programme of open-ended asset purchases starting in 2014. The policy announcement overall failed to live up to expectations, putting a negative shadow over Asian and European markets.

Read Full Article at cityindex.co.uk: Bank of Japan disappoints pulling markets lower; SABMiller reports in line with expectations

Investors also braced themselves as earning season gears up in the US and several bellwethers are due to report later in the day, such as IBM, Johnson & Johnson and Google, which should bring some volume back to the markets following the US bank holiday yesterday.

Here in the UK SABMiller reported third quarter results in line with expectations, with revenue growth accelerating from the first six months of the year.

Reported revenues increased by 17% year on year in the three months to December, ahead of the 11% rise reported in the first half. Accelerated growth of organic lager volumes was seen in Latin America; however, this was offset by a slowdown in Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific. Read more