London open: Stocks rise after Chinese manufacturing figures

3rd Dec 2012 08:18

UK stocks opened in positive territory on Monday morning following some upbeat economic data from China and India, but gains were only moderate with the focus likely to be on Greece as Eurozone finance ministers meet in Brussels.The final reading for the HSBC China purchasing managers' index (PMI) increased from 49.5 to 50.5 in November, in line with the preliminary estimates. Meanwhile, the official PMI from National Bureau of Statistics rose to a seven-month high of 50.6, up from 50.2 in October. What's more India's manufacturing PMI recorded its fastest growth in five months, coming in at 53.7."Thus, better than expected manufacturing data from two export giants is sending a clear signal to investors which is the pace of the global economic recovery is back-on-track," said financial trade Shavaz Dhalla from Spreadex.However, Dhalla noted that markets will have to digest a barrage of other economic data elsewhere today "which could dictate the flow of sentiment", including manufacturing data from the Eurozone, UK as well as the US.  "Therefore, investors should brace for a day of potential volatility as today's reported better than expected manufacturing data from China and India is unlikely to compensate for a raft of poor manufacturing data from other nations," he said.Meanwhile, the Eurogroup is meeting today to focus on Greece and the controversial voluntary debt buy-back scheme. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the Bild newspaper at the weekend that Germany would considering writing off debt once Greece tips into a budget surplus."Given that these private bond holders have already seen their holdings undertake a haircut once already this year, they could well resent being asked to take yet another loss on their holdings, while EU governments continue to refuse one of their own," said market analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets.Polymetal gains after doubling estimates at AlbazinoPrecious metals giant Polymetal rose after doubling its mineral resources estimate at its Albazino project in the Khabarovsk territory, Russia. The miner said that as of August 1st, mineral resources at Albazino were estimated at 37Mt with an average grade of 4.8g/t of gold (Au) containing 5.7Moz of Au. Sector peers Kazakhmys, ENRC and Rio Tinto were also higher this morning on the back of increased hopes for demand after the Chinese data.Tullow Oil was performing well after HSBC upgraded its rating to 'neutral', while RSA Insurance gained after Deutsche Bank lifted its recommendation to 'buy'.Cable & Wireless Communications surged after agreeing to sell the majority of its businesses in its Monaco & Islands division as it attempts to scale back its geographic footprint and focus on its core operations. CWC is selling the assets to Bahraini telecoms firm Batelco Group for an enterprise value of $680m. Mortgage provider Paragon Group of Companies was wanted after backing up press speculation by confirming that it is thinking about acquiring small private bank Hampshire Trust. The purchase would grant the company banking licence for the first time, allowing it offer savings accounts for its customers.Regeneration specialist St. Modwen Properties was in demand after saying expectations for the full year remain unchanged following strong momentum across the entire group.FTSE 100 - RisersSchroders (SDR) 1,633.00p +2.32%Reed Elsevier (REL) 657.00p +2.26%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 727.50p +1.96%Amec (AMEC) 1,060.00p +1.53%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 273.90p +1.37%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,134.00p +1.31%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,395.00p +1.31%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 119.00p +1.28%Bunzl (BNZL) 1,042.00p +1.26%Polymetal International (POLY) 1,075.00p +1.22%FTSE 100 - FallersHargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 751.00p -0.79%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 46.31p -0.40%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 636.10p -0.25%Hammerson (HMSO) 470.10p -0.23%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 341.00p -0.12%BT Group (BT.A) 233.40p -0.04%FTSE 250 - RisersCable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 37.07p +6.83%Ruspetro (RPO) 88.10p +4.88%Lonmin (LMI) 265.00p +2.67%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,920.00p +2.46%Man Group (EMG) 78.65p +2.41%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 103.70p +2.07%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 59.85p +1.96%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 97.00p +1.62%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 243.90p +1.54%NMC Health (NMC) 178.70p +1.53%FTSE 250 - FallersComputacenter (CCC) 380.00p -2.04%Telecom Plus (TEP) 857.50p -2.00%Savills (SVS) 440.00p -1.65%Bumi (BUMI) 264.10p -1.46%Rank Group (RNK) 140.50p -1.40%Redrow (RDW) 156.50p -1.39%Interserve (IRV) 359.50p -1.21%Dialight (DIA) 1,070.00p -1.20%Cranswick (CWK) 790.00p -1.19%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 188.20p -0.90%BC