Market overview: Stocks end month on a down note

1630:Close Stocks ended the session on a down note, but were nevertheless 4.5% higher for the month. Taylor Wimpey led gains on the Footsie, followed close behind by shares in Meggitt and the likes of Anglo American and Glencore. IAG sank to the bottom of the pile on apparent profit taking. Out on the second-tier index it was Pets at Home and Cineworld which did worse, with the latter weighed down by a downgrade out of Canaccord. Economic data Stateside was mixed, although the Chicago PMI for October jumped ahead of forecasts to reach its best levels since January 2015. Consumer price and unemployment data out in the Eurozone was stronger than expected, although Japan and Russia´s central banks contradicted some analysts´ calls for looser monetary policy.

1542: TJM Partnership points out that in the last couple of weeks a position has been accumulated in March 2016 510p call options. "The open interest in this strike price" sticks out like a sore thumb, TJM says.

1350: The University of Michigan´s consumer confidence index for the month of October fell to a reading of 90 after a print of 92.1 for the month before (consensus: 92.5).

1345: The Chicago PMI jumped to a reading of 56.2 for October (consensus: 49.5), it´s highest since January 2015.

1230: US personal income and spending both expanded at a 0.1% month-on-month clip in September.

1030: Russia´s central bank kept its mainpolicy rate unchanged at 11%, contrary to market expectations for a 50bp reduction.

1000: Consumer prices in the Eurozone rose to be unchanged in October after dipping by 0.1% year-on-year in the prior month. They also edged higher by one tenth of a percentage point at the 'core' level to stand at 1% over the year. In parallel, unemployment in the currency bloc slipped to 10.8% from 11% (consensus: 11%).

0908: Stocks have started the morning lower following a mixed close on Wall Street overnight and ahead of the release of a raft of US data later in the evening. Acting as a backdrop, The Bank of Japan has decided to keep its policy settings unchanged, although it pushed out the date by which it expects to meet its inflation target. The focus in today´s session will be on the latest Eurozone consumer price data - given the ECB has an 'itchy' trigger finger. German retail sales figures have come in well below forecasts this morning. IAG is at the bottom of the pile following its latest results. FTSE 100 down 8.63 points to 6,386.65.