Market overview: SocGen remains a buyer of Barclays, Investec downgrades Lloyds

1608: Barclays and UBS are attractive ‘self-help’ restructuring stories “in our view”, analysts at SocGen wrote to clients in a research note on Thursday. Management should be able to drive returns on tangible net asset values (ROTNAVs) to drive a re-rating of price/tangible net asset value multiples (P/TNAVs).

1601: Analysts at Investec have lowered their view on shares in Lloyds to hold from buy. They state they are "really quite positive" about the operational outlook for the lender. Nevertheless, the possibility of a raft of negative one-offs, a dose of pre-election jitters and the fact the shares are at 12-month highs drives their decision. In parallel, the broker advises "against buying any further UK bank shares".

1200: The Bank of England has maintained Bank Rate at 0.5%, as expected. The size of the central bank’s asset purchase facility as maintained at £375bn, also as anticipated.

1135: Front month Brent crude futures are now bouncing back by 2.98% to $57.26 per barrel on the ICE after what some market commentary is describing as Wednesday's outsized move. Remarks from Iran's Supreme leader Khamenei saying the deaths of innocent civilians in Yemen is a "significant crime" and that the preliminary agreement with the P5+1 nations is not binding are also being cited as a factor behind this morning's price movements.

1134: "We do not expect steel making raw materials prices to recover any time soon as excess supply and weakening demand growth in Chinese steel are proving a toxic combination for both iron ore and metallurgical coal," writes Investec's Hunter Hillcoat. Today he has downgraded his recommendation on various UK-listed miners.

1043: Those buying gold should remember that the long-term link between money in circulation and the gold price depends critically on there being inflation, although for the long-term the principle still holds, analysts at Citi say. However, "2015 is still a dangerous period for gold, especially if interest rates rise and dollar-strength continues," they add.

0928: The most exposed UK company to pension risk is FirstGroup, whose pension liabilities are equivalent to 404% of its market capitalisation, Citi points out.

0927: Luxury goods group Burberry shares gain 4.1% to top the FTSE 100 leaders amid speculation it could attract the attention of a US rival or cash-rich private equity groups.

0926: To take note off, on Thursday the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is scheduled to publish its survey of primary dealers (SPD). Traders are expected to focus on the median probability attached to the Fed funds rate not returning to the zero lower bound (ZLB) in the two years following ‘lift-off’, analysts at Unicredit are reminding their clients.

0907: Mining stocks are limiting upside on the Footsie (+0.3% at 6,960.56) with shares in BHP and Anglo American falling after downgrades at both Credit Suisse and Investec. Both banks expressed concerns about falls in iron ore and coal prices due to structural issues, namely a weaker Chinese economy, together with low cost supply. Others in the sector such as Rio Tinto, Antofagasta and Glencore are also lower.

0830: The FTSE 100 is making moderate gains this morning after a strong performance on Wall Street after FOMC minutes showed policymakers were divided on when to hike rates. Meanwhile, while Asian markets were mostly mixed, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged as much as 6.8% to its highest since January 2008 as investors from mainland China piled in. Reports that Greece will meet Thursday's deadline to pay back a €450m loan payment to the International Monetary Fund are also helping sentiment.