Market overview: FTSE clings to support ahead of US data
Thursday 20 Jun 2013

1224: The benchmark index continues to wallow near its lows of the day, albeit still in the area of technical support around its 200 day moving average. That comes ahead of the release of a flurry of economic data this afternoon, including the latest statistics on existing home sales and manufacturing in the Federal Reserve bank of Philadelphia's region. Both reports are due out at 15:00. FTSE 100 down 143 to 6,205.

1104: The sell-off continues with the FTSE 100 now registering losses of 2.3 per cent, down 150 points on the day at 6,199. Miners are unsurprisingly the worst performers of the day as risk appetite declines, though Melrose isn't far behind, trading down 4.25 per cent despite the higher-than-expected sale price (181m pounds) of its motor manufacturing division Marelli Motori announced this morning. Combined with the recent sale of Trust Hardware and the upcoming sale of Crosby, Investec now reckons that today's news 'adds to our confidence that shareholders can expect a cash return of c.50p', possibly by the end of the year.

1100: The Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) total orders gauge for the month of June has come in at -18, versus a reading of -20 for last month (Consensus: -12).