Market overview: Evraz said to prepare IPO of North American unit

1630:Close Footsie has finished the session modestly higher, up by 38 points to 6,819 ahead of the results of Scotland´s referendum on independence. Precious metals miners were a drag as the prices of the underlying metals slipped in the wake of Wednesday´s FOMC meeting. Retail sales, ex-automobiles, grew by 0.4% month-on-month, as expected. Results are expected to start coming through at 01:00 GMT Friday morning.

1623: Evraz is preparing a spin-off or IPO of its North American unit.

1558:There are reports of brokers in the Square Mile are telling their traders that they will be expected to work longer shifts and extra staff being taken on in case there is a need to cope with a yes vote.

1355: The latest Ipsos Mori poll conducted for the Standard showed that the no camp was holding a 53% lead versus 47% for those planning to vote yes. To take note of, it reveals that nearly 60% of pro-UK voters were motivated chiefly by fear of the consequences of independence rather than “hope” for the future. On the other hand, only 24% of voters said they were motivated by feelings of national identity.

1330: Initial weekly US unemployment claims dropped by 36,000 last week to hit 280,000 (consensus: 305,000). House building permits on the other hand declined to an annualised rate of 965,000 in August from 1.12m in the month before (consensus: 1.04m).

1308: In a research note published on Thursday afternoon Liberum explains to clients that in the event of Scotland voting in favour of independence then the worst affected sectors would be: Oil, Life Insurance and Banking. It further points out that Lamprell, Babcock and Brewin Dolphin were the hardest hit by the mini-scare of 8 September. The five largest affected companies who might be affected due to their actuarial pension deficits would be BAE, BT, Tesco, Sainsbury and G4S. Lloyds and RBS could see a relief rally of between 3% and 5% should Scots vote no, they add. Sterling can be expected to weaken materially under a yes scenario, with Imagination being the company most likely to benefit given its 60% exposure to the US dollar.

1022: European banks asked for €82.1bn in funds at the ECB´s TLTRO, roughly half of the €150bn which had been expected by analysts.

1004: Stocks have moved firmly into the blue ahead of the results of the European Central Bank´s TLTRO at 10:15. European lenders are expected to take up €150bn in liquidity.

0930: UK retail sales volumes advanced by 0.4% over the month in August, as expected by the consensus.

0900: Switzerland´s central bank has maintained the target range for its key policy rate unchanged at between 0% and 0.25%.

0855: Stocks have started slightly lower in the UK despite overnight gains on Wall Street, albeit only slightly so, as traders brace for the outcome of the Scottish referendum. In theory at least the real fireworks won´t come until tomorrow morning when the result is made known. It is indeed a historic day and a fateful one as well. A large bounce in risk apettite - or vice versa - towards British financial assets, especially in the pound, is likely when Scots´ decision is made known. Easyjet and TUI Travel are in the lead early on, with miners acting as a drag, especially precious metals miners.