London midday: Weak global manufacturing data weighs on UK stocks
Aerospace and Defence
10,848.81
16:15 26/04/24
BAE Systems
1,342.50p
16:15 26/04/24
Banks
4,061.03
16:15 26/04/24
Barclays
204.55p
16:15 26/04/24
Berkeley Group Holdings (The)
4,712.00p
16:15 26/04/24
Food & Drug Retailers
3,958.25
16:15 26/04/24
FTSE 100
8,141.91
16:15 26/04/24
FTSE 250
19,817.28
16:15 26/04/24
FTSE 350
4,470.86
16:15 26/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,424.23
16:15 26/04/24
Household Goods & Home Construction
12,721.31
16:15 26/04/24
HSBC Holdings
663.90p
16:15 26/04/24
ITV
70.65p
16:15 26/04/24
Lloyds Banking Group
52.22p
16:15 26/04/24
Media
11,871.07
16:15 26/04/24
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets
286.40p
16:55 26/10/21
NATWEST GROUP
306.50p
16:15 26/04/24
Perform Group
243.75p
05:01 09/12/14
Sainsbury (J)
263.60p
16:15 26/04/24
Tesco
289.70p
16:15 26/04/24
- Chinese, Eurozone and UK manufacturing PMIs fall
- Markets looking ahead to BoE, ECB, US jobs data
- Perform jumps on Access Industries offer
techMARK 2,855.71 +0.16%
FTSE 100 6,816.49 -0.05%
FTSE 250 15,922.73 +0.23%
Figures showing a manufacturing slowdown in China, the Eurozone and UK were weighing on stocks on Monday, as well as ongoing geopolitical tensions in Ukraine.
Investors chose to adopt a cautious approach in the absence of a trading session in the States, with Wall Street closed for a public holiday. Meanwhile, risk appetite was also limited ahead of a busy week for financial markets worldwide.
London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.1% lower at 6,816 by midday.
A flurry of macroeconomic indicators are due out across the globe over the next few days, though markets will be mostly focusing on policy decisions from the Bank of England and European Central Bank on Thursday, followed by the all-important US non-farm payrolls report on Friday.
As for Monday's session, two separate manufacturing reports from China showed that growth in the sector had eased more than forecast in August, compounding renewed fears of a slowdown after a recent spate of weak data from the Asian powerhouse.
The government's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector fell to 51.1 last month, while HSBC's own China manufacturing PMI was revised lower from 50.3 to 50.2. Both PMIs were down from 51.7 in July.
Closer to home, the UK manufacturing PMI unexpectedly declined from 54.8 to 52.5 in August, while the second estimate of the Eurozone manufacturing PMI was revised lower to a 13-month low of 50.7 (initial estimate: 50.8) from 51.8 in July.
In other news, tensions in Eastern Europe were ignited over the weekend by calls from Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks on "statehood" for south-east Ukraine. The comments come as Western leaders prepare to impose further sanctions on Moscow following further fighting near the border of Ukraine.
Perform soars on Access Industries offer
Sports media firm Perform saw shares rocket after Access Industries Group offered to buy all the shares it doesn't already own for 260p each or ÂŁ410m, valuing the entire company at ÂŁ702m. The investment group already holds a 42.5% stake in Perform.
M&A speculation was also driving the share price of broadcaster ITV higher on reports that Liberty Global could make a full bid.
Barclays fell after saying that it would make a ÂŁ500m loss from selling part of its Spanish business to Caixabank as part of its non-core asset disposal programme. Banking peers HSBC, Lloyds and RBS were also in the red.
Housebuilder Berkeley Group inched lower after saying that it has seen a normalisation of transaction levels over recent months.
Tesco came under further selling pressure following Friday's profit warning. The company was the centre of much negative newsflow over the weekend, including an article in the Financial Times' Lex column which argued that the company's shares are not yet a bargain despite the recent sell-off. Supermarket rivals Wm Morrison and J Sainsbury were also lower.
Defence group BAE Systems was a high riser after Bank of America upgraded its rating on the stock to 'buy'.
FTSE 100 - Risers
BAE Systems (BA.) 457.40p +2.76%
ITV (ITV) 215.90p +2.23%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 435.90p +1.40%
Meggitt (MGGT) 477.30p +1.21%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,437.00p +1.13%
Kingfisher (KGF) 307.00p +1.09%
Hammerson (HMSO) 613.50p +0.99%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,130.00p +0.89%
Reed Elsevier (REL) 991.00p +0.87%
Fresnillo (FRES) 969.50p +0.78%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 173.60p -2.20%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,014.00p -1.84%
Tesco (TSCO) 225.95p -1.74%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,108.00p -1.25%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 358.50p -1.19%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 286.90p -1.17%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,398.00p -1.13%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,868.00p -1.12%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 646.00p -0.92%
TUI Travel (TT.) 369.20p -0.89%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Perform Group (PER) 257.30p +26.25%
African Barrick Gold (ABG) 245.70p +5.18%
RPS Group (RPS) 287.40p +3.34%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,118.00p +3.33%
Redrow (RDW) 282.40p +3.03%
Alent (ALNT) 361.00p +2.85%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 353.70p +2.64%
De La Rue (DLAR) 729.50p +2.60%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 184.10p +2.51%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 165.10p +2.29%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Afren (AFR) 93.00p -4.62%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,060.00p -2.84%
Exova Group (EXO) 188.50p -2.33%
Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,241.00p -2.05%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,431.00p -1.78%
Infinis Energy (INFI) 212.10p -1.71%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 2,911.00p -1.66%
Foxtons Group (FOXT) 250.10p -1.65%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 323.10p -1.58%
AO World (AO.) 216.60p -1.55%
BC