Market overview: Stocks boosted by BoJ rate cut

1630:Close Stocks ended the week in a chipper mood after the BoJ surprised some in the markets with the timing of its latest move to thwart deflationary risks. That came amid mixed data over on the Continent but a relatively positive figures out Stateside. Nevertheless, at least two well-known market strategists (from BofA Merrill and Trim Tabs) sounded a cautious tactical on share prices. Citi was a bit more ambivalent in a note to clients, although it admitted its view of the world might be too US-centric. Front month crude oil futures were on a mixed footing by the close of trading. Earlier in the day, Russia´s Energy Minister told Bloomberg the country was open to discussion with Saudi Arabia but that there had been no contacts between them since November. To take note of, 10-year bond yields across a wide swathe of the developed world retreated by double digits on Friday, with those on Gilts lower by 11 basis points to 1.56%. FTSE 100 up 152.01 points to 6,083.79.

1539: "Our tactical asset allocation advice remains "long cash" until the "4C's" (China, Commodities, Credit, and Consumer) improve," BofA Merrill says.

1538: Interesting note from Citi. They believe it is too early to call curtains on the current equity bull market. However, they pose the following question: "where could we be wrong? Maybe we have not put enough weight on widening credit spreads or our check-list is too US-centric with the next major bear market driven by EM weakness. Only time will tell...," they said.

1500: The final reading for the University of Michigan´s consumer sentiment gauge for January slipped from 93.3 to 92.0 (consensus: 93.0).

1445: The Chicago Purchasing Managers’ index rose to 55.6 in January from 42.9 the previous month (consensus: 45.3). Commenting on the data, Barclays says: "The last several months have seen volatile readings, but this morning’s print re-enforces what we view as a positive turn in US macroeconomic data releases."

1330: US gross domestic product slowed to an annualised pace of 0.7% in the last quarter of 2015 following an expansion of 2.0% in the three months before (consensus: 0.8%).

1330: Three-month copper futures are 0.2% lower to $4,535.25 per metric tonne in LME trading.

1248: RBC has lowered its 2015-2016 EBITDA estimates for Antofagasta by 8% on average, but keeps at sector perform.

1247: Analysts at Citi have added Imperial Tobacco to their Europe Focus list and removed BG Group. In a separate note they point out that "FX works in different ways for IMT and BAT. For IMT we lift EPS by 4% for translation gains. For BAT are concerned about the translation hit."

1132: Sainsbury´s acquisition of Home Retail had stalled, according to the Financial Times.

1131: Russia´s Energy Minister tells Bloomberg TV that all exporters must cut output for there to be an agreement, but he doesnt seem to close the door entirely.

1028: Is Russia really serious about cooperating with OPEC? Keep an eye out for what Igor Sechin, Rosneft´s chief - a member of Putin´s inner circle - and the country´s president himself - have to say on the subject, RBC told clients. "There indeed are new ties along which Saudi Arabia and Russia could negotiate a cut. However, even if conditions do seem to signal at least a more active policy debate in Moscow, the historical record on Russia-OPEC cooperation is a bit mixed."

1027: BoJ´s decision makes further yuan weakness inevitable against the yen, which until June 2015 had weakened 75% against the yuan (CNY) in nominal terms, Ashraf Laidi says.

1026: Credit Suisse has pushed back its rate hike call for the BoE to February 2017. "On the back of the recent soft patch of domestic data, lower oil prices, weak wage growth and the short term hit to growth that we expect during the EU referendum in the summer, we have changed our call for the first BoE rate hike from August 2016 to February 2017."

0932: Gold-to-oil price ratio has extended its 20-year high, Deutsche Bank points out. "This is all very compelling for the gold miners that are facing much reduced fuel charges (lower exchange rate tailwinds for many of them) and some reprieve in the gold price. The coal-to-oil price ratio has also blown out, suggesting the mis-pricing lies with the oil price and not with gold," the broker says.

0910: The Footsie has started the morning higher, led by gains in the likes of Anglo American and Old Mutual, after the Bank of Japan decided to cut interest rates again. Travel stocks are providing a slight drag on account of the Zika virus. DS Smith has been started at 'buy' over at broker Charles Stanley. Tullett Prebon is leading gains on the FTSE 250 following its pre-close trading update. Oil futures are again higher, rising by 1.6% to 34.44%. The yen got thumped after the BoJ´s decision, with USD/JPY up by 1.74% to 120.90 in the wake of the decision. FTSE 100 up 66.85 to 5,998.75.