Market overview: Stocks lower on weak US data

1630:Close The top flight index finished the session lower following the release of weaker than expected data on US consumer confidence, led by declines in commodity stocks. Economists were initially at a loss to explain the retreat in US consumer sentiment to a seven month low. Coca Cola was also lower following its latest quarterly figures. Sainsbury failed to benefit from an upgrade out of Charles Stanley. However, sovereign bond markets did seem to find their footing. The yield on the 10-year Gilt fell by nine basis points to 1.88%. FTSE 100 down 12.55 points to 6,960.49.

1500: The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index for May retreated to a reading of 88.6 from 95.9 (consensus: 95.9), its lowest since 2014. The expectations sub-index fell back to a reading of 81.5 from 88.8 in the prior month.

1432: Wall Street stocks have opened higher despite some disappointing economic data. The Dow is up just 0.03% higher as it edges closer to its record close of 18,288.63 reached on 2 March. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% after hitting a new all-time closing high of 2,121 yesterday.

1415: US industrial production unexpectedly dropped 0.3% in April after a revised 0.3% decline in March, compared with the consensus forecast of no change. This was the fifth straight decline.

1330: Three-month copper futures fell 0.6% to $6,360.25 per metric tonne in LME trading.

1330: The New York or so-called Empire State manufacturing index rose to just 3.1 in May from -1.19 in April, compared with the consensus forecast of 5.

1100: Precious metal miners such as Fresnillo and Randgold are under the weather today as gold prices pull back from a three-month high. Acacia Mining, Petropavlovsk and Centamin are also trading in the red.

0930: UK construction output increased by 3.9% in March after a 0.9% drop in February, slightly short of the 4% rise expected by economists. Meanwhile, output declined 0.3% year-on-year in the first quarter as a whole, the first year-on-year decline since Q2 2013.

0828: Stocks have started the morning with a slight bid after a record close on Wall Street last night. There is little in the way of data due out today in the UK or Europe, save for the latest figures on UK construction. Later in the day, a raft of US data may liven things up. A teleconference between Athens and its international creditors is scheduled for today, with a Greek team due to fly to Brussels over the weekend.Coca Cola HBC is at the top of the leaderboard following its first quarter figures. Morgan Stanley has boosted its target price for TalkTalk. FTSE 100 up 16 to 6,989.13.