Market overview: Stocks lower ahead of US Fed

1630:Close UK stocks finished the session clearly lower, led by drops in shares of St.James Place and Astrazeneca. Anglo American got a boost on the back of reports that China's central bank might soon adopt its own version of quantitative easing. Initially, that gave copper prices a lift, although by the end of the session three month copper futures on the LME were higher by just 0.1% at $6,102.50 per metric tonne. Long-term Greek bond yields continued to move lower, although some economists could be heard cautioning against excessive optimism. "Rising expectations of a Greek exit from the Eurozone are still not prompting contagion effects or more general concerns about the Eurozone economy. We fear that the markets are too relaxed," analysts at Capital Economics said. With the next US Fed meeting and a bank holiday looming close on the horizon traders may also have been opting to pare their positions. FTSE 100 down 73.45 points to 7,030.53.

1410: The US Case-Shiller index, which monitors house prices in 20 different cities, advanced 0.5% in February.

1130: Cameron has said only his party can save the UK ahead of the 7 May general election. Cameron's Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party are neck-and-neck with neither expected to win an overall majority, according to the latest polls. "Not winning the election outright is obviously not a success," he said. "I have a duty to spend the next 10 days to win the election outright ... Ten days to save the United Kingdom."

1030: Total revenues from Standard Chartered fell 4% to $4.4bn, a 6% miss versus consensus forecasts of $4.7bn. Customer loans rose by 2% quarter-on-quarter after a 4% decline in the second half of 2014. "On one level, the market may be mildly relieved by today’s numbers," said broker Investec, "but we think that STAN’s Q1 2015 IMS offers a preview of the unpalatable impact of planned deleveraging (now underway)."

0954: Greek 10-year bond yields are down by 71 basis points to reach 11.35%.

0954: Astrazeneca is at the bottom of the pile after the results of a study showed US rival Merck's diabetes drug met heart-safety requirements. The British drugmaker's own treatment for that chronic disease was recently required by US authorities to carry information about the risk of heart failure.

0944: Centrica's chairman says company has made preparations in case it receives a takeover offer.

0930: Economic activity in Britain slowed far more than economists had been anticipating at the start of the year, according to a preliminary estimate from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at a quarter-on-quarter pace of 0.3% in the three months ended in March, after an expansion of 0.6% in the last quarter of 2014.

0840: UK stocks have started the morning slightly lower, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, with shares of Astrazeneca and Shire leading the retreat. BP on the other had has barreled past analysts’ estimates, after reporting $2.6bn in first quarter profits, well ahead of the $1.2bn expected in markets. Acting as a backdrop, China’s central bank may be set to unleash new quantitative easing measures, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. That has light a fire under copper futures early in the session, which may give miners a boost. UK GDP data is due out at 09:30. FTSE 100down by 26.15 points to 7,077.53.