Market overview: Oil sector stocks lead losses

1630:Close Stocks ended the Friday session with sharp drops, led lower by oil-sector related stocks such as Tullow Oil, Weir Group, Ophir Energy and Afren. To take into account, US markets started the day with another large move to the downside. Brent futures could be seen below the $100 per barrel mark on the ICE by the time of the ‘closing bell’. Three-month copper futures ended the day down 1.3% at $6,649 per metric tonne on the LME. FTSE 100 down 92 to 6,340.

1444: HSBC's chief economist, Stephen King, is being cited as having said that a "supremely strong" US dollar could call into question the timetable for Fed rate hikes.

1416: Stock futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq have substantially trimmed losses ahead of the opening bell after data showed that import prices fell 0.5% in September, declining for the third straight month. Futures are showing only mild losses after having earlier fallen by 2%.

1330: US import prices drop 0.5% month-on-month in September (consensus: -0.7%). The previous month's variation has been revised to show a fall of 0.6% instead of the initial print of 0.9%.

1309: Old Mutual is considering an acquisition of UK wealth manager Quilter Cheviot for around £650m, according to Sky News, sweetening its earlier offer approach in the summer by £50m.

1139: Insurance peers Admiral and RSA are the only two stocks currently in positive territory on the FTSE 100 as defensives benefit from the market-wide sell-off. Travel and leisure stocks TUI Travel and Carnival are among the worst performers as concerns about the Ebola crisis continue to rise. Mining groups Antofagasta, Anglo American and BHP Billiton are also in the red after strong gains the previous session as risk appetite takes a hit. The FTSE 100 is now down 1.3% at 6,348.

1000: Telecom Plus is a high riser on the FTSE 250 after a strong trading update. The utility services group said it is "comfortable" with market expectations for the full year after strong organic growth in the first half, with momentum accelerating in the second quarter. Broker Peel Hunt said that "numbers [are] trending ahead of our forecasts" and that the stock looks "good value", as it reiterated its 'buy' rating.

0900: UK stocks have begun the session sharply lower, caught in the downdraft of the heavy losses sustained by Wall Street overnight. A mix of travel-related, oil and cyclical shares are now to be seen leading losses on the top flight index. CSR and Vedanta Resources are at the bottom of the pile. Slightly weaker than expected numbers on Italian industrial production were adding to the already poor sentiment surrounding growth prospects in the Eurozone. FTSE 100 down 32 to 6,400.17.