London open: Eurozone PMI data overshadows Cyprus crisis

21st Mar 2013 09:02

UK stocks have begun the day firmly lower, weighed down by the much weaker than forecast manufacturing and services sector data just out in the Eurozone. The Markit manufacturing sector purchasing managers' index for the month of March has come in at 46.6, versus 47.9 for the month before (Consensus: 48.2). In parallel, the service sector gauge dropped to 46.5 from 47.9 (Consensus: 48.2).Particularly worthy of being mentioned are the very weak readings seen in Germany. The above has trumped the unfolding crisis in Cyprus as the main driver of the market this morning. The Mediterranean country's banks are now expected to remain closed until next Tuesday, while the European Central Bank has committed to providing liquidity until Monday. The latter puts the onus on the government in Nicosia to find a viable solution by then. Also weighing on equity markets is the 7% fall seen in shares of US software maker Oracle overnight. Not all is bad news however. Thus, and acting as a backdrop, are the better-than-expected figures on Chinese manufacturing which were released in Beijing overnight. As well, the Federal Reserve seems to have given little indication yesterday that it may be contemplating a reduction in the $85bn pace of its monthly asset purchases. Public borrowing and retail sales data for February are released at 09:30.United Utilities and Premier Farnell lead gainsThe UK's largest water company, United Utilities, expects to report an increase in annual profits despite rises in depreciation and power costs. Ahead of results for the year ended March 31st 2013, the firm said it was trading in line with expectations as it "continues to drive improvements in customer service and operational effectiveness". Electronics components supplier Premier Farnell said that market conditions remain tough as it reported a 3% decline in fourth quarter sales. Adjusted operating profit for the 13 weeks ended February 3rd fell 3.4% to £23.9m while total revenue fell to £239.3m after a weak performance from MDD Americas.UK retailer NEXT unveiled a rise in 2012 profits on Thursday, boosted by growth in 'on-line' sales and business expansion. Pre-tax profits climbed by 9.0% to £621.6 for the year to the end of January 2013, compared to £570.3m a year earlier.Royal Bank of Scotland is progressing on the sale of the 316 branches regulators are forcing it to sell, with some of the UK's biggest fund managers squaring off against US private equity firms, people with knowledge of the discussions said, Bloomberg reports. FTSE 100 - RisersResolution Ltd. (RSL) 273.50p +1.45%United Utilities Group (UU.) 703.50p +1.15%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 302.10p +0.63%Serco Group (SRP) 631.00p +0.40%SSE (SSE) 1,489.00p +0.34%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,241.00p +0.24%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,734.50p +0.20%TUI Travel (TT.) 310.40p +0.16%AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,044.50p +0.15%Meggitt (MGGT) 485.60p +0.14%FTSE 100 - FallersCRH (CRH) 1,489.00p -2.55%GKN (GKN) 269.70p -1.75%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,270.00p -1.73%Schroders (SDR) 2,101.00p -1.64%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,324.00p -1.63%Rexam (REX) 518.00p -1.61%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 368.60p -1.60%ARM Holdings (ARM) 893.00p -1.49%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,404.00p -1.47%Experian (EXPN) 1,144.00p -1.46%FTSE 250 - RisersKenmare Resources (KMR) 31.23p +2.76%Premier Farnell (PFL) 224.30p +2.56%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 92.65p +1.98%Salamander Energy (SMDR) 204.80p +1.94%Filtrona PLC (FLTR) 704.00p +1.73%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 194.20p +1.68%Drax Group (DRX) 614.00p +1.49%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 198.00p +1.49%Premier Oil (PMO) 393.40p +1.39%Interserve (IRV) 495.20p +1.35%FTSE 250 - FallersCarpetright (CPR) 655.00p -3.32%Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,004.00p -2.95%NMC Health (NMC) 330.80p -2.71%Rank Group (RNK) 172.70p -2.70%COLT Group SA (COLT) 124.40p -2.43%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 3,470.00p -2.25%Vesuvius (VSVS) 379.00p -2.04%Home Retail Group (HOME) 155.70p -1.89%Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) 835.00p -1.82%Balfour Beatty (BBY) 254.50p -1.70%FTSE TechMARK - RisersXP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,169.10p +3.00%NCC Group (NCC) 141.00p +1.81%Sepura (SEPU) 98.50p +1.29%Ricardo (RCDO) 430.75p +0.17%Filtronic (FTC) 74.00p 0.00%Puricore (PURI) 51.50p 0.00%Kofax (KFX) 308.25p 0.00%Innovation Group (TIG) 25.25p 0.00%DRS Data & Research Services (DRS) 19.00p 0.00%Triad Group (TRD) 5.75p 0.00%FTSE TechMARK - FallersArk Therapeutics Group (AKT) 0.44p -8.33%RM (RM.) 75.00p -3.07%Gresham Computing (GHT) 82.45p -1.55%Filtronic (FTC) 74.00p 0.00%Puricore (PURI) 51.50p 0.00%Kofax (KFX) 308.25p 0.00%Innovation Group (TIG) 25.25p 0.00%DRS Data & Research Services (DRS) 19.00p 0.00%Triad Group (TRD) 5.75p 0.00%Parity Group (PTY) 30.75p 0.00%