Market overview: FTSE closes lower as oil plunges
1630 (Close): Stocks drifted down at the end of the week as oil futures moved sharply lower, with precious metals miners on the rise as investors sought refuge. To take note of, ECB chief economist Ignazio Visco was quoted saying that acting pre-emptively and aggressively may mean having to do less. Wall Street was trading in mixed fashion after the release of stronger than expected consumer price data and confident remarks from Cleveland Fed chief Loretta Mester that the economy would come through the current ‘rough patch’ which in her opinion will warrant a gradual tightening in policy. FTSE 100 down 21.72 points to 5,950.23.
1310: Latest TNS poll puts those in favour of Brexit at 36% versus 34% who say they would choose to stay within the European Union.
1256: Three-month copper futures are lower by 1.39% to $33.81 per barrel on the ICE.
1250: Three-month copper futures are edging higher by 0.1% to $4,591.50 per metric tonne on the LME.
0930: UK retail sales volumes jumped by 2.3% month-on-month in January (consensus: 0.8%).
0930: In January, public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks was in a surplus to the tune of £11.2bn in January 2016, a £1.0bn more than a year ago. Nonetheless, that was a tad lower than the -£12.5bn economists had anticipated.
0927: Cable is slightly lower following last night's negotiations between Cameron and his EU peers. Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi was quoted as saying the heads of government had taken “a few steps backward on a U.K. deal.”
0853: Stocks were rising slightly shortly after the open despite the losses sustained by Wall Street overnight. Provident Financial and Coca Cola HBC were in the lead early, with the latter having reported better than expected full-year earnings despite FX headwinds from the ruble. Retail sales data are on tap at 09:30 with US CPI figures for January the only other first-tier economic data scheduled for release later in the day. Front-month Brent crude futures are a tad lower, drfiting down 0.322% to $34.17 per barrel on the ICE. FTSE 100 up 25.65 points to 5,996.33.