London midday: Equities slide as UK services PMI disappoints, oil prices slide

UK equities on Wednesday were weighed down by disappointing data on the services industry, a slump in oil prices and geopolitical tensions.

The Markit/CIPS purchasing managers' index on UK services fell to 55.5 in December from 55.9 the previous month. Although the reading remained just above the long-run survey trend level of 55.2, suggesting solid overall growth, economists had been expecting a slightly better print of 55.6.

A reading above 50 signals an expansion while a level below that indicates a contraction.

Earlier, Caxin's services PMI fell to 50.2 in December from 51.2 the previous month. The report follows weak manufacturing data on Monday, adding to concerns about a slowdown in the world's second largest economy.

Worries in Asia escalated after North Korea said it had successfully carried out an underground hydrogen bomb test. The news came after a 5.1 magnitude tremor was detected close to the nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, which monitors said was unlikely to be natural.

A further decline in oil prices also continued to hurt sentiment, with Brent crude down 3.8% to $35.08 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate down 2.6% to $35.05 per barrel at 1156 GMT.

Still to come, a batch of US data will be released in afternoon trade including on services, factory orders and the private payroll report.

After the closing bell, the Federal Reserve will publish minutes of its 15-16 December policy meeting, which will reveal more details behind the central bank's decision to raise interest rates for the first time in almost a decade.

On the company front, mining stocks were under the cosh amid woes in China and geopolitical tensions. Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Antofagasta and Glencore were in the red.

Oil producers, including Tullow Oil and Ophir Energy, slipped on fears about the decline in oil prices.

BAE Systems jumped after RBC Capital Markets upgraded it from 'outperform' to 'top pick', and raised the target price from 570p to 630p, saying the tide has turned for US defence spending.

Royal Mail gained after Barclays upgraded the stock to ‘overweight’ from ‘equalweight’ and lifted the price target to 575p from 440p.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,041.99 -1.55%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,961.24 -1.42%
techMARK (TASX) 3,180.28 -1.02%

FTSE 100 - Risers

BAE Systems (BA.) 503.00p 1.82%
Royal Mail (RMG) 442.90p 1.30%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,574.00p 0.99%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 416.90p 0.51%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 436.80p 0.41%
National Grid (NG.) 934.50p 0.13%
Kingfisher (KGF) 328.10p 0.12%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,261.00p 0.09%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 219.75p 0.02%
Worldpay Group (WI) (WPG) 304.00p -0.07%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

BHP Billiton (BLT) 702.50p -5.83%
Anglo American (AAL) 268.25p -5.28%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 1,846.00p -4.82%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 427.90p -4.25%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 513.70p -3.49%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,059.00p -3.46%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 533.00p -3.44%
Glencore (GLEN) 85.26p -3.40%
Prudential (PRU) 1,429.00p -3.18%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 974.50p -2.94%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Marshalls (MSLH) 328.40p 2.37%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 1,026.00p 1.08%
Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 131.80p 0.92%
AO World (AO.) 148.70p 0.88%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 789.50p 0.70%
P2P Global Investments C (P2P2) 979.50p 0.56%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 138.00p 0.44%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 214.00p 0.28%
SEGRO (SGRO) 429.40p 0.28%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 180.80p 0.28%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 400.80p -7.63%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 153.50p -6.63%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 740.00p -5.37%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 310.20p -5.31%
Rotork (ROR) 161.10p -5.29%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 92.10p -5.15%
Aveva Group (AVV) 1,499.00p -5.13%
Evraz (EVR) 69.05p -5.02%
Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 131.10p -5.00%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 224.50p -4.95%

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,043.61 -1.53%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,962.77 -1.41%
techMARK (TASX) 3,182.01 -0.97%

FTSE 100 - Risers

BAE Systems (BA.) 503.00p 1.82%
Royal Mail (RMG) 443.10p 1.35%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,572.50p 0.95%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 417.80p 0.72%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 436.90p 0.44%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,267.00p 0.23%
Kingfisher (KGF) 328.40p 0.21%
National Grid (NG.) 934.60p 0.14%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 219.80p 0.05%
Worldpay Group (WI) (WPG) 304.10p -0.03%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

BHP Billiton (BLT) 703.20p -5.74%
Anglo American (AAL) 268.80p -5.08%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 1,841.00p -5.08%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 428.80p -4.05%
Glencore (GLEN) 84.69p -4.04%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,059.00p -3.46%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 533.00p -3.44%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 514.40p -3.36%
Prudential (PRU) 1,429.50p -3.15%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,088.00p -2.94%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Marshalls (MSLH) 328.40p 2.37%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 1,026.00p 1.08%
Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 131.80p 0.92%
Drax Group (DRX) 227.70p 0.75%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 789.00p 0.64%
P2P Global Investments C (P2P2) 979.50p 0.56%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 138.00p 0.44%
Ladbrokes (LAD) 120.70p 0.42%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 214.20p 0.37%
SEGRO (SGRO) 429.40p 0.28%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 400.10p -7.79%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 153.50p -6.63%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 91.40p -5.87%
Aveva Group (AVV) 1,492.00p -5.57%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 739.00p -5.50%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 310.20p -5.31%
Rotork (ROR) 161.20p -5.23%
Evraz (EVR) 69.05p -5.02%
Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 131.10p -5.00%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 147.00p -4.98%