Market overview: Glencore, homebuilders lead gains

1630:Close Shares in commodity trader Glencore finished at the top of the leaderboard in a down day for stocks as crude oil futures slumped after Saudi Aramco´s chief said his country could sustain low oil prices for a "long, long" time. Homebuilders again found a bid as market rates fell back on the long-end. MPC member Kristin Forbes said low oil prices gave rate-setters a bit more time to assess labour market conditions before having to decide whether the economy was strong enought to warrant a hike in Bank Rate. Investors expressed their discontent with (or disbelief, according to one analyst) with Kingfisher´s transformation plans, sending the company´s shares duly lower. JP Morgan recommended investors buy Lloyds on a pull-back, but cut its target price from 98p to 92p. FTSE 100 down 23.01 points to 5,877.

1630: Three-month copper futures finished the session lower by 1.0% to $4,422.50 per metric tonne on the LME.

1601: A report citing Bloomberg says sources suggest the BoJ´s Kuroda sees a decision on additional stimulus as "close".

1600: The drop in oil prices affords the MPC a bit more time before having to decide whether the labour market warranted a hike in Bank Rate, the BoE´s Kristin Forbes said.

1358: McDonald´s has published fourth quarter earnings per share of $1.28 (consensus: $1.23).

1048: Shares in the main High Street banking groups are drifting towards the bottom of the pile following a report over the weekend that they may be set to unveil a combined fresh 5bn pounds of PPI provisions in coming weeks. In the case of Lloyds, however, JP Morgan has stepped in reiterating its overweight stance, with analyst Raul Sinha telling clients he saw any pull-back in the stock as a buying opportunity. However, Sinha lowered his target from 98p to 90p as a result of delays in interest rate increase expectations, the impact of recent floods on its insurance arm and lower loan growth assumptions.

0900: Business confidence in Germany slipped in January, with the IFO Institute´s monthly sentiment gauge retreating to the 107.3 point mark from 108.7 in the month before (consensus: 108.4).

0854: Technical analysts at Digital Look are pointing out the 200-week moving average on the S&P 500 as the level to watch. As of today it comes in at about 1,782 points.

0853: Shares are moving lower following an initial move higher as oil futures come under renewed pressure at the start of the week. From a sector perspective, miners are doing worst, alongside large losses for BP. Stock in Lloyds is also seeing some selling. Overnight, the Shanghai Stock Exchange´s Composite Index edged higher by 0.75% to 2,938.52 points. There is little on the economic calendar today that might move markets, save for the IFO Institute´s latest reading on German business confidence. ECB president Draghi is due to make a speech just after the close of trading today. FTSE 100 down 27.05 points to 5,873.94.