London close: Stocks take hit from downbeat Eurozone data

London shares took a knock from downbeat Eurozone manufacturing and services data and economic woe in China on Thursday.

The FTSE 100 Index closed 17.53 points adrift at 6679.07 after data showed euro zone business growth this month was weaker than economists expected, with orders dropping for the first time in more than a year despite price cuts.

Jasper Lawler at CMC Markets said: “Europe’s economy is far from out of the woods despite hope offered by a recovery in German investor confidence on Wednesday.”

Back in the UK, the recovery in British manufacturing slowed in November as a result of sluggish export demand, the Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) industrial trends survey showed.

But UK retail sales soared last month, advancing by 0.8% month-on-month and 4.3% on the year and led by non-food sales, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

On the corporate front, defence engineering group Babcock International fired up 31p to 1149p after profits, earnings and cash hit or topped targets.

Catalytic converter maker Johnson Matthey was also on the up by 130p to 3282p after first-half results came in well ahead of consensus estimates, according to broker Liberum Capital.

But BHP Billiton led miners lower with a 49.5p fall to 1575.5p after Credit Suisse expressed bearish comments on commodities, saying it expected the Chinese economy to have a hard landing after negative manufacturing data from Beijing.

BHP’s rivals were also on the slide, with Anglo American subsiding 23p to 1300p and Rio Tinto off 48.5p at 2893.5p.

In the second tier, UDG Healthcare got a 15.3p shot in the arm to 342.2p as it announced higher annual profits and revenue.

But IP Group was 3.4p sicker at 202.6p despite the award of a £2.4m grant to one of its investments, Modern Biosciences.

Market Movers

TechMARK 2,870.08 -0.05%

FTSE 100 6,678.90 -0.26%
FTSE 250 15,604.52 +0.02%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,341.00p +6.00%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,184.00p +5.90%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,178.00p +2.70%
TUI Travel (TT.) 427.10p +2.52%
Friends Life Group Limited (FLG) 343.30p +2.02%
BG Group (BG.) 1,046.00p +1.80%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,423.00p +1.79%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,565.00p +1.49%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,353.00p +1.34%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 477.30p +1.34%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,865.00p -2.62%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,582.50p -2.62%
National Grid (NG.) 936.00p -2.55%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 638.00p -2.37%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,293.50p -2.23%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,183.00p -2.15%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,030.00p -1.84%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 258.10p -1.71%
Glencore (GLEN) 323.45p -1.58%
Centrica (CNA) 293.90p -1.57%

FTSE 250 - Risers
UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 348.00p +6.45%
ICAP (IAP) 399.30p +3.45%
Halma (HLMA) 669.00p +2.92%
Diploma (DPLM) 705.50p +2.69%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 641.00p +2.56%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 310.70p +2.34%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 138.30p +2.29%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,060.00p +2.20%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 741.00p +2.07%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 340.80p +2.04%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Serco Group (SRP) 179.00p -7.01%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 71.45p -6.30%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 50.10p -6.09%
Infinis Energy (INFI) 217.00p -5.82%
Lonmin (LMI) 178.80p -4.89%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 236.60p -4.83%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 160.90p -3.88%
Cranswick (CWK) 1,392.00p -3.87%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 752.00p -3.77%
Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 102.10p -3.50%

FTSE TechMARK - Risers
CML Microsystems (CML) 315.00p +7.88%
Innovation Group (TIG) 27.50p +4.76%
Optos (OPTS) 228.00p +3.64%
Sepura (SEPU) 142.00p +2.90%
Gresham Computing (GHT) 80.50p +2.55%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 4.33p +2.37%
Kofax Limited (DI) (KFX) 415.38p +2.18%
Ricardo (RCDO) 641.00p +1.18%
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,439.00p +1.05%
NCC Group (NCC) 202.00p +1.00%

FTSE TechMARK - Fallers
Dialight (DIA) 775.00p -2.88%
Anite (AIE) 82.50p -1.49%
Consort Medical (CSRT) 740.50p -1.00%
BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 16.12p -0.77%
Skyepharma (SKP) 335.00p -0.59