Market overview: Precious metals miners and oil majors slide

1630:Close Shares ended the session lower heading into the weekend despite the somewhat calmer waters surrounding the situation in Greece. Precious metals miners and the oil majors led on the downside, while airlines outperformed. Oil prices were under pressure throughout much of the day, with strength in the US dollar and sterling being a focal point of market commentary. That came as traders arguable shifted back towards central bank watching and away from Greece, although worries as regards the situation in China continued to simmer. FTSE 100 down 21.37 points to 6,775.08.

1505: The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index for the month of July falls from 96.1 to 93.3 according to a preliminary reading.

1330: US homebuilders broke ground on 9.8% more homes in June than in the prior month, with housings starts reaching an annualised pace of 1.174m (consensus: 1.1m). Building permits increased by 7.4% month-on-month to hit 1.343m (consensus: 1.1m). In parallel, consumer prices in the US rose by 0.1% on the month, as expected, alongside an 0.2% gain in core prices, which was also as forecast by economists.

1138: General Electric has just announced a second quarter EPS of 28 cents, in line with analysts' forecasts while that of Sun Trust Banks has come in ahead of expectations. So far this earnings season 71% of companies have beaten consensus forecasts. Expectations are for S&P 500 earnings to fall by 4.3% - their first year-on-year decline since 2009. However, the entirety of the drop can be accounted for by lower profits in the oil patch.

1137: Analysts at SocGen write that EMU equities offer better prospects than shares in the UK and US given that the so-called equity risk premium for euro area stocks is still above its long-term average. That means that it has greater capacity to absorb higher bond yields.

1000: UBS has downgraded its view on Ocado stock, saying it was supportive of the online grocery store’s business model but the delay in announcing a new partner did not help validate the model. The Swiss also lowered its price target on GlaxoSmithKline to 1,400p from 1,500p.

0840: Stocks have started the day slightly lower, lagging their European counterparts on the other side of the channel. Wall Street finished with strong gains, with the Nasdaq-100 setting fresh 15-year highs and the S&P 500 just six points off its record close. Cable is edging higher after Carney overnight hinted at a possible rate hike towards the start of next year. Ten year Gilt yields however were practically unchanged at the start of trading. Today’s main event will be the vote in Berlin, which would clear the way for negotiations on a third bail-out package with Greece to begin. Shares in Anglo American and BHP Billiton are at the bottom of the pile in the early going. FTSE 100 down 12.96 points to 6,783.60.