Market overview: Stocks bounce after soothing words from Fed and BoE

1630:Close UK stocks have ended the day with a large bounce, led by gains in shares of Tullow Oil and Petrofac, which tracked overnight gains in Brent futures. That comes as global capital markets stabilised somewhat on the last day of the week. To take note of, on Thursday evening the Chicago Mercantile Exchange announced that it would increase margins on all oil liquids, which may have provoked what traders often term a ‘short squeeze’. Also helping things along were soothing words from St.Louis Fed president James Bullard on Thursday and the BoE’s chief economist, Andy Haldane, on Friday morning. Stock in Rolls Royce plummeted after the company slashed its guidance for this year. Late in the afternoon broker Charles Stanley lowered its recommendation in the shares to ‘hold’. FTSE 100 down 114 to 6,310.

1555: Analysts at Charles Stanley have downgraded Rolls Royce to 'hold' from 'accumulate'.

1455: The preliminary reading for the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index in October came in at 86.4, ahead of forecasts for a reading of 84.2.

1402: Chief UK economist at Berenberg, Rob Wood, has said he now expected the BoE to lift interest rates in June 2015, later than his previous February 2015 forecast. He said that the change was because of a "darkening horizon" for the UK economy, amid stalling growth in the Eurozone and worries about a global slowdown, which points to a "downshift in the UK expansion". He said: "We expect only a gentle, short-lived slowdown. But the risks are firmly to the downside and have increased with recent market turbulence."

1336: CME has announced it will increase some outright margins in all major crude oils, effective close of trading on Friday. That announcement may explain the sharp rise in Brent futures overnight as some traders scurried to trim or close out their 'short' positions.

1134: Greek 10-year government bond yields down by 85 basis points to 8.13%.

1133: Risky assets are bouncing back on Friday, undoing much of Wednesay's mayhem, but not all analysts seem to believe that markets have stabilised in a definite manner. Thus, Danske Bank wriets to clients today saying: "Technicals point to bounce in risk assets in very short term - but risk of another leg down later. Developments from here depend on: (1) positioning, (2) central bank response, (3) Ebola risk and (4) length and depth of global slowdown." As always, time wil tell. FTSE 100 up 66 to 6,262.

1026: Marks & Spencer shares have flat-lined after Credit Suisse slashed its target price for the retail stock from 425p to 360p and repeated an 'underperform' recommendation. The bank said it sees "few signs of recovery" at the company amid slowing UK sales growth and weak demand overseas. Furthemore , sterling strength has led the bank to cut another 2% from its profit forecasts.

0915: UK stocks have begun the morning with a bounce, led by gains in shares of Tullow Oil and Weir Group as the price of Brent crude stabilises and bounces higher as well. Other cyclicals such as Hargreaves Lansdown can now also be seen near the top of the leader-board. Rolls Royce on the other hand is moving sharply lower after slashing its sales guidance. To take note of, on Friday morning the Bank of England’s chief economist, Andy Haldane, said he now sees interest rates staying lower for longer. FTSE 100 up 58 to 6,255.