Market overview: Sharp falls in European equities

1630:Close As is often the case, a relatively stable Wall Street offset sharp falls in European equities, helping the Footsie to close with only moderate losses. That came as West Texas crude and iron-ore futures plumbed three-year and five-year lows, respectively. The former was heavily sold as Saudi Arabia lowered the premium on the oil which it supplies to the US. Basic resource shares were the worst performing group both on the Stoxx 600, where they were sporting losses of nearly 4% by the close, and on the top flight index. Ahead of the ECB’s next policy meeting, on Thursday, the European Commission slashed its growth forecasts for the Eurozone economy for both this year and next. FTSE 100 down 34 to 6,454.

1330: The US trade deficit widened to a four-month high of $43bn in September, 7.6% higher than a revised $40bn in August. Analysts had expected a figure closer to $41.2bn. Weaker exports to Europe, China and Japan were partly to blame for the month-on-month increase.

1207: Front month Brent crude futures are dropping 2.65% to $82.59 per barrel on the ICE after the European Commission cuts its growth forecasts for the single currency area. Economists at Credit Suisse reportedly see Chinese GDP expanding by 6.8% next year.

1145: Analysts at Credit Suisse have lowered their price target on shares of Aggreko to 1,240p from 1,471p beforehand, after assuming coverage of the stock with an 'underperform' recommendation.

1123: The executive arm of the European Union, the European Commission (EC), has significantly reduced its forecasts for growth and inflation in the single currency area this year and next. The EC now sees growth domestic product (GDP) in the euro area expanding at a 0.8% pace this year, followed by a 1.1% clip next year. That constitutes a notable downgrade of its spring 2014 forecasts, when it had estimated that economic activity in the Eurozone would grow by 1.2% in 2014 followed by an acceleration to 1.7% in 2015.

0938: The Markit/CIPS UK construction PMI for October has come in at a five-month low of 61.4, much lower than September's 64.2 reading and the consensus forecast of 63.5. “The construction PMI provides another indication that the economy is cooling as we move towards the end of the year, which strengthens the case for interest rates to remain on hold," said economist Chris Williamson from Markit. Nevertheless, it still marks the 12th straight month above 60 for the index and Williamson said the fall was "not a major concern".

0822: UK stocks started the session ever so slightly lower, but have since moved off their intra-day lows, following a mixed close to trading overnight on Wall Street. The latter came after Saudi Arabia cut the discount on the oil which it supplies to the US. Not surprisingly, oil stocks did worst last night in the States. Shares of Imperial Tobacco are near the top of the leader-board after the release of its full-year results. Legal&General has said its retirement arm completed £3.9bn of annuity sales in the nine months to September. Tullow Oil and BP are moving lower in early trading. Front month Brent crude futures are losing 1.86% to $83.23 per barrel on the ICE. FTSE 100 down three points to 6,487.