London open: FTSE 100 resilient in face of weak China, Eurozone PMIs

24th Jul 2015 09:19

(ShareCast News) - Investors braved weaker than expected readings on Chinese and Eurozone manufacturing and lingering worries regarding Greece, allowing the top flight index to recover after dipping at the start of trading.As of 09:05 the Footsie was 7.34 points higher to end at 6,665.30.Stocks rose despite a lower close on Wall Street overnight on the heels of weak quarterly figures from several corporate heavyweights such as Caterpillar, Freeport-McMoran, 3M and Dow Chemical.The Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index on the other hand dropped 1.29% to 4,070.91 as the weak factory numbers dragged the prices of some industrial metals to six-year lows. The Stoxx 600 Mining sub-index was on track to lose 7% over the week, its worst thus far in 2015.Three-month copper futures slipped to $5,202.5 per metric tonne on the LME in early trading, its weakest level since 2009, while those for aluminium were at $1,634 a ton.In parallel, front month gold futures were losing 0.92% to reach $1,084 per ounce out on COMEX, after having barely managed to snap a 10-day losing streak in the previous session.Acting as a backdrop, investors were shifting their focus towards next week's US Federal Reserve policy meeting. On a related subject, Deutsche Bank analysts reiterated their call for the single currency to drop back to parity versus the US Greenback by year-end.In a similar vein, BNP Paribas also predicted the euro would fall back towards parity - albeit a tad more slowly - by the second quarter of 2016.That came as some reports were suggesting that Greece and its financial backers were working to finalise a new Memorandum of Understanding by 6 August.Chinese data overshoots to downside by a wide marginThe Markit China manufacturing sector purchasing managers' index for July dropped to a reading of 48.2 - a 15-month low - following a print of 49.4 for June.That was far below the consensus forecast for a reading of 49.7."A lot of focus has been put on oil and gold prices but a better barometer of the global economy is the industrial metal copper, which is also collapsing. Are we heading for a global recession triggered by China? Well at the moment it's far too early to tell but that fact that it's the new hot topic of debate replacing Greece should surely get warning lights flashing," said Jonathan Sudaria, Night Dealer at London Capital Group, in a research note e-mailed to clients.In parallel, the preliminary Eurozone manufacturing sector PMI fell to a reading of 52.2 for July after a print of 52.5 for June (consensus: 52.5).Aggreko hit by geopolitical concerns and oil and gas sector slowdownShares in Aggreko tumbled 15% after the temporary power provider said its interim and full-year results are likely to miss market expectations as a result of on-going security challenges in Yemen and a further slowdown in its North American oil and gas related business. The company now expects full-year pre-tax profit to be between £250m and £270m at current exchange rates, which have moved adversely in recent months, compared with market expectations of around £290m.Shares in drinks owner AG Barr fell after it said first-half profits would drop by about 5% compared with the year before. The stock fell by 2.05% to 620p at 0818 BST after the company said tough prior year comparatives, promotional phasing and poor weather contributed to the profit dip.Vodafone said it has made a good start to the year, with organic service revenue up 0.8% in the quarter ended 30 June as the European businesses return to growth and customer demand for 4G and data takes off. Service revenue is the money the mobile phone company gets from customers' plans and traffic on its network. The figures came in better than expected and ahead of the 0.1% increase in the fourth quarter.Hammerson posted a total return on property investment of 5.7% in its first half trading update, 1% ahead of estimates. The property owner said its outperformance was principally due to growth in its premium outlets and developments.Healthcare giant GlaxoSmithKline said its malaria vaccine has passed its last scientific hurdle, although the immunisation programme in sub-Saharan Africa could be still over 12 months away. On Thursday, the treatment, aimed at young children, was given a positive scientific opinion from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use on Thursday. Market MoverstechMARK 3,193.39 +0.44%FTSE 100 6,666.82 +0.18%FTSE 250 17,609.19 -0.06%FTSE 100 - RisersVodafone Group (VOD) 239.50p +3.25%Pearson (PSON) 1,271.00p +3.00%Severn Trent (SVT) 2,194.00p +1.67%Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,301.00p +1.25%United Utilities Group (UU.) 896.00p +1.19%Anglo American (AAL) 815.30p +1.10%ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,026.00p +1.08%British Land Company (BLND) 836.00p +0.97%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,613.50p +0.95%GKN (GKN) 304.00p +0.90%FTSE 100 - FallersAshtead Group (AHT) 952.50p -2.26%Antofagasta (ANTO) 617.00p -1.83%Glencore (GLEN) 216.85p -1.45%Diageo (DGE) 1,880.00p -1.42%Shire Plc (SHP) 5,570.00p -1.24%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 263.80p -1.05%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,156.50p -0.98%Carnival (CCL) 3,467.00p -0.74%Kingfisher (KGF) 371.90p -0.67%Aviva (AV.) 524.00p -0.66%FTSE 250 - RisersCairn Energy (CNE) 168.80p +2.93%Playtech (PTEC) 932.50p +2.92%Beazley (BEZ) 329.00p +2.65%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,140.00p +2.61%Just Eat (JE.) 450.00p +2.58%OneSavings Bank (OSB) 298.00p +1.95%Indivior (INDV) 263.30p +1.94%Riverstone Energy Limited (RSE) 990.00p +1.54%Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 347.60p +1.49%Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 326.20p +1.46%FTSE 250 - FallersAggreko (AGK) 1,214.00p -15.10%Lonmin (LMI) 70.00p -7.28%AO World (AO.) 125.00p -3.10%Vedanta Resources (VED) 434.00p -2.95%Man Group (EMG) 152.10p -2.25%Ladbrokes (LAD) 125.70p -2.03%Acacia Mining (ACA) 238.90p -1.97%B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 345.90p -1.96%Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,646.00p -1.91%Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,200.00p -1.88%