Market overview: Housebuilders keep dropping

1635:Close Property stocks and homebuilders’ shares weighed on the Footsie in what was otherwise a rather dull day of trading. FX markets were very calm, at least on the surface. Sovereign fixed income markets on the other hand were on the move, with yields on UK ad US 10 year bonds moderately lower. To take note of, the latest US data on industrial production and consumer confidence came in below analysts’ forecasts. Crude oil futures were also on the backfoot, likely as traders played it safe ahead of this weekend’s meeting of several of the world’s major oil producers in Doha, Qatar. FTSE 100 down 21.35 to 6,343.75.

1635: Three-month LME-traded copper futures have ended the day 0.8% lower at $4,782.00 per metric tonne.

1536: Stock in global exchange operator BATS is 20.84% higher in its first day of trading on its own venue.

1530: Front month Brent crude futures are lower by 3.4% to $42.39 per barrel on the ICE.

1500: The University of Michigan's preliminary consumer confidence index for April slipped from 91.0 to 89.7 (consensus: 92.0).

1415: US industrial production fell 0.6% month-on-month in March (consensus: -0.10%).

1414: Michael Saunders, ex-Citibank, has been appointed to the MPC.

1330: Three-month copper futures are down by 0.6% to $4,786.50 over on the LME.

1315: Empire State manufacturing gauge prints at 9.56 for April, up from 0.62 in the month before (consensus: 2.0).

1300: Citigroup results are out. The lender has posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.10 versus analysts' estimate for $1.03 in profits. Stock is higher by 2.5% in an immediate reaction.

1027: Front month Brent crude futures are down by 0.991% to $43.41 per barrel on the ICE, alongside reports that Iran's oil minister will not attend this weekend's meeting in Doha, Qatar of many of the world's main oil producers. In his place will go the country's OPEC governor. Energy Aspect's Amrita Sen believes that is a ploy to help bolster sentiment. She does expect a 'soft' agreement to come out of the meeting. Supplies from many parts of the world are falling, Sen adds.

1000: Eurozone trade surplus declines from €22.8bn in February to €20.2bn (consensus: €21.5bn).

0930: UK construction output dropped 0.3% month-on-month in February (consensus: 0.0%).

0912: Rio Tinto's chief reportedly sees weakness ahead for iron ore prices. "Chinese growth slips to 6.7% in Q1 2016, as expected; we believe current resources rally premature; we are inclined to short base and industrial metals (and associated large-cap miners)," analysts at ShoreCap are chiming in. [...] we reiterate our stance in favour of shorting base and industrial metals (e.g. iron ore, copper, nickel) and associated large-cap miners e.g. BHP, Rio Tinto, Glencore, Anglo American, First Quantum and Antofagasta.

0842: Man Group is leading risers on the second-tier index, with analysts at ShoreCap standing by their full-year assumptions for net-inflows at the fund manager following its Q1 update.

0831: Just a reminder, Citigroup's results are set for release at 13:00.

0830: "This morning marks the start of the official UK EU referendum campaigning period. From now until the poll date on June 23rd strict rules apply on commenting or publishing non-campaign affiliated pieces," Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid is pointing out.

0816: It’s a quiet start to trading so far for the market London, with little movement in oil or FX and the Footsie just marginally lower, although benchmarks over on the continent are faring a bit worse. That is despite better than expected readings on Chinese GDP, fixed asset investment and retail sales this morning. The data was flattered by favourable base-effects, Capital Economics points out, but it nevertheless confirms that at least for now the worst is probably over for Asia’s largest economy. However, Nomura (and others) think otherwise when looking towards the medium-term. In terms of the big picture, and probably linked to the above, copper and iron ore are both on track for their largest weekly gains in many weeks, while gold is off for the week on the back of better risk-appetite and a better tone to the US dollar. FTSE 100 down 1 point to 6,364.