FTSE 100 LIVE: Stocks slip as UK vehicle production falls to lowest since 1956

The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks were lower on Thursday as UK automotive production fell to a near 70-year low last month.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reported this morning that combined UK vehicle production dropped 18.2% in August to 38,693 units, the weakest performance since 1956.

SMMT said the figures showed “the challenging environment facing UK automotive manufacturers, with soft conditions in the sector’s largest market, the EU, significant cost pressures, model transitions and slow economic growth.”

London’s benchmark index (^FTSE) was 0.3% lower in early trade Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) dipped 0.3% and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris also headed 0.3% into the red The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) was down 0.2% Wall Street is set for a muted start as S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow futures (YM=F) and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all hovering around the flatline The pound was 0.1% down against the US dollar (GBPUSD=X) at 1.3439

FTSE Index - Delayed Quote•USD

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9,236.82

-13.61

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As of 8:57:27 AM GMT+1. Market Open. Advanced Chart

Follow along for live updates throughout the day:LIVE2 updates

14 mins ago

LaToya Harding

Asia and US overnight

Stocks in Asia were mixed overnight, with the Nikkei (^N225) rising 0.3% on the day in Japan, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) fell 0.3% in Hong Kong.

The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was treading water by the end of the session and in South Korea, the Kospi (^KS11) was also flat on the day.

Across the pond on Wall Street, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) dipped 0.3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) was 0.3% lower. The Dow Jones (^DJI) also lost 0.%. 38 mins ago

LaToya Harding

Coming up...

Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what's moving markets and happening across the global economy.

To the day ahead we have data releases including US August durable goods orders, the advance goods trade balance, existing home sales, September’s Kansas City Fed manufacturing activity, and the weekly initial jobless claims. In Europe, we’ll have the Eurozone’s August M3 money supply.

From central banks, we’ll hear from the Fed’s Goolsbee, Williams, Bowman, Barr, Logan and Daly, and also get the ECB’s economic bulletin.

Here's a snapshot of what's on the agenda:

7am: Trading updates: Co-op, IG Group, HSS Hire, DFS Furniture, STV, Halma, Petershill Partners 8.30am: Switzerland interest rate decision 1.30pm: US weekly jobless figures 1.30pm: US trade data for August 3pm: US existing home sales for August

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