Market overview: Shares down as Greek bond yields move higher

1630:Close Stocks ended the day sharply lower after Greek bond yields turned higher, ending the day up by 63 basis points at 11.69%. Anglo American was the biggest faller on the last day of the first quarter, alongside shares of British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco. The latter came off on fears the US FTC would block a merger between US companies Reynolds American and Lorillard – although some analysts believe those worries may be somewhat exaggerated. Lastly, the Footsie is expected to “stutter” in the run-up to May's national election but then recover to touch new record highs, a Reuters poll forecast. FTSE 100 down 118 points to 6,773.

1534: Wells Fargo analysts attach 90% probability to Reynolds-Lorillard merger finally going through.

1445: MNI’s manufacturing sector survey for the Chicago region edged higher to 46.3 in March from 45.8 in the month before. Economists had been expecting a reading of 51.7. "This morning’s report suggests the weak February reading for the Chicago PMI was not due solely to harsh winter weather and the West Coast port strike and that the underlying trend for Midwest manufacturing growth may in fact be quite muted," chipped in Barclays' Jesse Hurwitz.

1411: US house prices remained steady in January, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city index released on Tuesday. On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices grew 0.9%, while they rose 4.6% year-on-year. S&P adds how prices have been rising at twice the speed of wages. Hence, in their opinion there is an increased risk that any "up-tick" in interest rates could pose a major set-back.

1242: After five profit warnings and the end to the superstore space race time has come to analyse how space needs to be closed at listed supermarkets, says Exane. "In theory 25% of UK superstores should close; in practice the number will be lower, but winners and losers will emerge and c.GBP4bn–8bn of store write-downs may be required. We back a recovering Tesco and think Morrison and Sainsbury will struggle."

1232: Friends Life "Value Share" partnership has sold 30.8m Aviva shares at a price of 532p, according to Reuters.

1208: Morgan Stanley admits some investors may be worried about the simple fact that the US FTC is holding late-stage meetings with Lorillard and Reynolds. That may indicate the manufacturers are being allowed to respond to a negative staff recommendation or to address specific areas of pushback. However. current market pricing only points to a 50% chance of approval, which seems “overly bearish” to the broker.

1207: Commenting on the moves in Kingfisher's share price Dr.Richard Hunter at Hargreaves Lansdown writes: "over the last year the shares remain down 13%, as compared to a 4% hike for the wider FTSE100, with the market consensus weakening slightly to a hold of late. Some early measurable successes on Kingfisher’s new look will likely be required before the general view moves.”

1149: Iran? The outcome of Nigeria's elections will impact more on prompt supplies. Even with an agreement the Islamic Republic will not be able to ramp up production before 2016. If no deal is forthcoming some leakage from offshore storage is a possibility, "but additional sanctions could offset this," broker Citi says.

1147: Antofgasta earlier denied reports of high-level merger talks with Teck Resources, leaving analysts at Citi non-plussed. They see no obvious strategic benefits to a hypothetical tie-up for ANTO’s shareholders. “The only good rationale would be if Los Pelambres really is at risk (in which case Teck would walk). Regarding the outlook for the other main asset classes, Citi writes: “Citi believes the USD rally is just on pause and not a dead horse. Estranged. Copper versus base metals correlations point to on-going upside for the red metal. Funds are expected to add net length into 2H’15.”

1100: On the subject of the new UK bank stress tests announced on Monday analysts at Exane write that Lloyds and RBS will pass, while HSBC and Barclays should also fare reasonably well “although the traded risk scenario introduces a degree of uncertainty”. Standard Chartered is more uncertain, they add.

0956: UK GDP for the final quarter of last year was revised up by 0.6% from 0.5% previously by the Office for National Statistics. The upward revision was better than estimates of an unchanged reading. In response, the British pound rose 0.2% from $1.4765 to $1.4788 against the US dollar. "We still expect solid GDP growth this year of 3%," said Capital Economics.

0912: The number of unemployed in Germany fell by 15,000 in March, following a decrease of 20,000 in the month before.

0850: UK stocks began the morning moving lower but have since moved a tad higher. Shares in British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco are the worst performers in the early going. Traders are pointing a finger at a NY Post article according to which the US FTC could block a merger between Reynolds and Lorillard. Acting as a backdrop, all eyes are on the outcome of the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 nations. The deadline for their conclusion is today, although that may be extended. If successful that may see a knee-jerk reaction lower in crude. FTSE 100 up 7.06 points to 6,898.49.