London close: Footsie slips into the red by the close

14th Dec 2012 16:28

After a decent start after some upbeat Chinese data, the Footsie was pressured into the red by the close of trade on Friday following a weak open on Wall Street. Nevertheless, losses in London were only modest, with the blue-chip index remaining close to the nine-month high reached earlier this week.The HSBC China flash manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose from 50.5 to 50.9 in December, slightly above the 50.8 forecast. This was its highest level since October 2011 the fifth consecutive monthly rise, providing a lift to stocks this morning.Market analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets said: "Europe's markets after opening on a fairly positive note have struggled for direction this afternoon on fairly light volumes with the positive Chinese PMI being overshadowed by some rather disappointing reminders, that for all this week's optimism about Greece's bailout approval, initial framework for banking union, Europe's economy remains in significant difficulty."The Markit Eurozone composite PMI rose to a nine-month high of 47.3 in December according to the preliminary estimate, up for the second successive month from 46.5 in November. However, while the PMI suggests that the downturn may have reached its strongest back in October, the survey continues to signal a steep overall rate of decline, with business activity levels having now fallen in 15 of the past 16 months.Also weighing on sentiment this morning was last night's announcement by Standard & Poor's that it had downgraded its outlook for the UK economy to 'negative', meaning that there is a "one-in-three chance that we could lower the ratings in the next two years", according to the agency. FTSE 100: Miners gain on comments from UBSMining stocks were among the best performers on Monday afternoon after UBS said that 2013 could provide meaningful upside to some commodity prices. "In our opinion, the macro backdrop for commodities is improving, with the new Chinese/ US governments promising pro-growth policy," the broker said.Rio Tinto was on the up after UBS labelled it as its preferred stock . Sector peers Polymetal, Kazakhmys, Antofagasta and BHP Billiton were also rising. However, Anglo American was bucking the trend after the broker downgraded its rating for the firm from 'buy' to 'neutral'.Oil giant BP was lower after Credit Suisse lowered its rating from 'outperform' to 'neutral', citing the stock's valuation and "lack of near-term momentum". Sector peer Tullow was also down. In contrast, distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl was lifted by Citigroup which raised its rating to 'buy'.Security firm G4S edged lower after announcing that it is to acquire an 87% stake in South African retail cash solutions technology provider Deposita for £8.2m. FTSE 250 movers: Centamin rebounds on fuel supply newsGold miner Centamin rebounded strongly after saying that the fuel supply to its Sukari mine in Egypt has resumed, after the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation went back on yesterday's decision to hit the gold miner with a retrospective payment claim. However, issues with delayed gold exports still mean that the miner's Sukari project continues to be suspended. The stock jumped 25% today, but that hasn't been enough to offset yesterday's near-50% drop.Market operator London Stock Exchange advanced after its acquisition of a majority stake in LCH.Clearnet was given clearance from the Office of Fair Trading. The company is still waiting for the approval from the FSA. bwin.party digital entertainment, the online gambling group, gained after saying that Belgian authorities have dropped all legal disputes with the company after it entered into a collaboration agreement with French casino operator Partouche. Insurance group Beazley fell after revealing that its preliminary loss estimate for the impact of Superstorm Sandy would be $90m, based on market losses of around $20bn. Recruitment peers Michael Page and Hays were performing well after Panmure Gordon upgraded its ratings for both stocks and hiked their target prices.FTSE 100 - RisersPolymetal International (POLY) 1,175.00p +2.26%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 758.00p +1.88%Experian (EXPN) 1,015.00p +1.60%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,390.00p +1.54%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 173.70p +1.16%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,095.00p +1.11%Evraz (EVR) 261.70p +1.00%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,355.00p +0.82%SSE (SSE) 1,444.00p +0.77%Tesco (TSCO) 341.90p +0.74%FTSE 100 - FallersPrudential (PRU) 881.00p -1.95%Anglo American (AAL) 1,826.50p -1.64%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,807.00p -1.58%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,135.00p -1.56%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,199.00p -1.40%National Grid (NG.) 708.00p -1.32%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,933.00p -1.18%AstraZeneca (AZN) 2,924.00p -1.17%ARM Holdings (ARM) 743.00p -1.07%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 145.20p -0.95%FTSE 250 - RisersCentamin (DI) (CEY) 34.64p +25.05%Ocado Group (OCDO) 80.00p +4.58%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,052.00p +4.16%KCOM Group (KCOM) 72.00p +3.90%Victrex (VCT) 1,633.00p +3.29%Home Retail Group (HOME) 129.70p +3.18%Lonmin (LMI) 295.60p +2.89%Petropavlovsk (POG) 341.50p +2.86%Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 82.15p +2.82%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 234.30p +2.81%FTSE 250 - FallersRuspetro (RPO) 83.30p -5.66%Sports Direct International (SPD) 367.40p -4.87%Renishaw (RSW) 1,887.00p -3.87%Synthomer (SYNT) 185.00p -3.65%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 256.20p -2.21%Betfair Group (BET) 745.00p -2.10%EnQuest (ENQ) 115.40p -2.04%Spirent Communications (SPT) 141.80p -1.73%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 227.30p -1.69%UBM (UBM) 725.00p -1.63%BC