London's leading shares held firm at midday in thin pre-Christmas trade, buoyed by hopes for a first quarter cut in interest rates.

"The MPC minutes suggest rates will be cut by three quarters of a point or a point in the first quarter of next year," said Peter Caulkett of Teather & Greenwood.

The FTSE 100 was up 28.2 at 5871.5.

Minutes from the Bank of England's monetary policy committee released this morning showed members had voted eight-to-one in favor of a 0.5% rate cut at its December meeting.

The only dissenting committee member had called for a 0.75 point cut.

That member, Willem Buiter, had argued "there was no good reason for cutting rates in steps" and that "the real side of the economy had responded faster to events than the committee had expected."

Mr Caulkett said apart from the rate cut hopes, there was little else driving the market ahead of the Christmas holiday and said interest would become even more subdued after midday.

UK figures released this morning highlighted a widening trend to the trade gap, but had little impact on shares. Corporate news was also thin on the ground.

Signet Group picked up a penny at 31p on a credit rating upgrade from Standard & Poor's.

Nycomed added 17p at 384p after signing a 3-year nuclear imaging deal.

Ladbroke saw some profit taking after strong gains yesterday, down 5p to 233p.

UK high technology stocks ignored a setback for their US counterparts overnight, which were hit by profit taking.

Admiral topped gainers among the second tier with a 6.1% rise, up 65p to 1135p, while Misys rose 17p to 420p and Sema group, 20p to 597p.

Shares in suit-hire firm Moss Bros are up 15p to 148.5p on the back of rumours of a bid for the company from Arcadia group, although analysts discount the talk.