Market overview: Shares lower as yen surges

1630:Close London-listed stocks outperformed their peers on both sides of the Atlantic, dragged down by lower copper and oil prices against a backdrop of the Japanese yen trading near its loftiest levels in 18 months. Gold miners did best on both the Footsie and the second-tier index, with shares of Centamin changing hands near record levels. Retailers were also on the front foot following M&S’s latest update, alongside gains in Sainsbury on the heels of an upgrade out of Credit Suisse. Pearson, Lloyds and Aviva were all lower after going ex-dividend. The main theme in markets was the ‘dovish’ set of Fed minutes released overnight, with markets apparently opting to emphasise the possible negative implications. One veteran New York-based trader emphasised to Bloomberg how the title of Janet Yellen’s last speech included the word ‘uncertainty’, something he had not seen in a Fed speech in over 30 years. Yellen was due to speak later in the afternoon. FTSE 100 down 0.40% or 24.74 points to 6,136.89.

1559: Front month West Texas Intermediate crude futures are down by 2.29% to $38.95 per barrel over on the ICE. Earlier today the state-run South Oil Company in Iraq said exports from the country’s southern ports have risen to an average of 3.494m barrels per day in April from 3.286m in March.

1541: ECB's Smets says central bank might reduce interest rates, expand unconventional policy.

1330: Initial unemployment claims in the US dropped by 9,000 to 267,000 over the week ending on 2 April. "Nothing in these data suggest that the softness apparent in the Q1 activity data is a warning of sustained weakness ahead," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

1255: Three-month LME-traded copper futures are down 1.8% to $4,699 per metric tonne.

1251: As Westminster looks to wind down its remaining stake in the High Street lender, Lloyds Banking Group is plotting a spree of deals at its insurance arm, Sky News reports.

0930: China's FX reserves rose by $10bn to $3.213trn in March, helped by favourable revaluation effects as the US dollar weakened worth about $45bn, according to Capital Economics says. Nonetheless, the PBoC has more than enough firepower to keep the yuan on an even keel in 2016, the think-tank adds.

0901: Shares are trading slightly higher following the release of a dovish set of Fed minutes overnight, which nevertheless appeared to reveal deep divisions among rate-setters at the US central bank, according to various analysts. Some market commentary also linked the release of the minutes to the renewed downdraft in the Japanese yen to one-and-a-half year lows. Miners, retailers and big pharma are at the top of the leaderboard early on. To take note of, Aviva, GKN, Lloyds, Pearson, Rexam, St. James's Place and Taylor Wimpey are all going ex-dividend today, swiping off about nine points from the Footsie. Speeches from ECB boss Mario Draghi and US Fed chair Janet Yellen later in the day appear to be the main risk events to watch out for on Thursday. FTSE 100 up 14.66 to 6,176.29.