Market overview: Stocks slip as oil slides

1630:Close The Footsie closed at its worst levels of the day – albeit only slightly lower - weighed down by weakness in the oil patch. Consumer staples did well on the other hand. Out on the second-tier index, Premier Oil and Tullow Oil were at the bottom of the pile, with analysts at JP Morgan having pointed out the former’s precarious financial position. Front month Brent crude futures skidded lower by 4.6% to reach $41.11 per barrel in ICE trading – to change hands near six-year lows. Three-month copper futures ended the day with losses of 1.0% to $4,569.00 per metric tonne. FTSE 100 down 14.77 points to 6,223.52.

1622: Smith&Nephew was reportedly the beneficiary of an upgrade out of Morgan Stanley to equal-weight.

1530: Drop in shares of Entertainment One is being linked by some observers to the results of a bond issue.

1114: Iron ore prices have dropped below $40 per metric tonne for the first time since at least 2009.

1035: JP Morgan initiates Premier Oil at neutral and adds: "we prefer Tullow to play oil price beta and M&A risk and hence initiate with a Neutral."

1025: Shares in AO World are leading gains on the second-tier index after it was revealed that Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb Inc has taken a 5% stake in the electrical appliance retailer.

1016: JP Morgan's new European banks top picks are: Lloyds, Danske, Credit Suisse, Commerzbank and Erste Bank.

1015: Goldman Sachs has reportedly upped its forecasts for the euro/dollar on a three-month, six-month and 12-month view to 1.07 (from 1.02), to 1.05 (from 1.0) and to 1.0 (from 0.95).

0904: Stocks have started the morning moderately higher, rising on the coattails of last Friday’s large gains on Wall Street. Consumer goods outfits ABF, Reckitt Benckiser and Unilever are doing best early on, alongside the likes easyJet. To take note of, front month West Texas crude futures are off by 1.28% to $39.46 per barrel on the NYMEX. That is weighing on the oil patch, with the likes of BP and Royal Dutch Shell to be seen at the bottom of the pile. Euro/dollar is also drifting lower towards 1.08 after its US jobs-induced spike higher. FTSE 100 up 36 points to 6,272.97.