London midday: Stocks rise as investors shrug off UK services slowdown

London stocks rose on Monday as investors shrugged off an unexpected slowdown in UK service sector growth in September.

The Markit/CIPS UK services purchasing managers’ index fell to 53.3 in September from 55.6 in August, compared to analysts’ estimates for a reading of 56. While it remained above the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction, it marked the third month of declines and the weakest rate of growth since April 2013.

"While the weak tone of the Markit/CIPS services survey in September brought more evidence of a soft end to the third quarter, we doubt that the economy is on the cusp of a renewed slowdown,” according to Capital Economics.

In the Eurozone, the final Markit PMI composite output index fell from 54.3 to 53.6 in September, below the 'flash' estimate of 53.9 posted last month, as the average rate of expansion failed to pick up pace in the third quarter.

Eurozone retail sales were unchanged in August, according to Eurostat, compared with analysts’ expectations for a 0.1% decline month-on-month, while July’s rate was revised up from 0.4% to 0.6%.

Elsewhere in the euro-area, Greece is set to unveil a 2016 draft budget later on Monday to satisfy international creditors. In July Greece agreed with its creditors to implement spending cuts and economic reforms in exchange for an €86bn bailout.

Across the Atlantic, Markit will at 1445 BST release its final estimate of US services PMI for September, which is expected to be confirmed at a reading of 55.6.

ISM’s US non-manufacturing composite at 1500 BST is predicted to fall to 57.5 in September from 59 in August.

Company-wise, Lloyds Banking Group rallied on news the government will start offering portions of its stake in the lender to private investors in spring 2016.

Glencore surged on reports the struggling mining company is in talks to sell its agricultural business. Singapore´s sovereign wealth fund, Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. and a Canadian pension fund are among the parties who had expressed an interest in the unit, Bloomberg reported.

Oil producers including Royal Dutch Shell, BP and BG Group, jumped as Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both rose 1.2% to $48.74 per barrel and $46.09 per barrel, respectively.

Trinity Mirror gained after saying it is on track to meet full-year expectations.

Rolls Royce advanced after announcing plans to cut another 400 jobs in its marine business on top of the 600 job cuts already announced in May.

Market Movers

techMARK 3,072.97 +1.82%

FTSE 100 6,262.96 +2.17%

FTSE 250 17,065.44 +1.60%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Glencore (GLEN) 103.25p +8.68%

Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,678.50p +4.38%

Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,689.00p +4.13%

BP (BP.) 365.85p +4.10%

BG Group (BG.) 1,025.00p +3.77%

Mondi (MNDI) 1,438.00p +3.75%

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,436.00p +3.53%

St James's Place (STJ) 887.00p +3.50%

Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,271.00p +3.33%

Standard Chartered (STAN) 688.60p +3.28%

FTSE 100 – Fallers

N/A

FTSE 250 - Risers

AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 930.00p +8.90%

Premier Oil (PMO) 76.60p +8.81%

Allied Minds (ALM) 392.20p +8.01%

Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 98.50p +7.36%

Tullow Oil (TLW) 206.50p +7.11%

Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 91.35p +5.42%

Aggreko (AGK) 1,009.00p +4.72%

Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 776.50p +4.65%

Weir Group (WEIR) 1,278.00p +4.41%

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 653.00p +4.15%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Playtech (PTEC) 802.00p -3.14%

Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 518.50p -1.61%

Acacia Mining (ACA) 260.30p -1.06%

Electra Private Equity (ELTA) 3,260.00p -0.91%

Computacenter (CCC) 754.00p -0.79%

Riverstone Energy Limited (RSE) 915.00p -0.54%

BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 2,045.00p -0.39%

PayPoint (PAY) 1,014.00p -0.39%

F&C Commercial Property Trust Ltd. (FCPT) 138.20p -0.36%

Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,087.00p -0.28%

FTSE TechMARK - Risers

Filtronic (FTC) 6.88p +5.77%

Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 582.50p +2.82%

E2V Technologies (E2V) 232.00p +2.43%

Skyepharma (SKP) 349.00p +1.16%

Gresham Computing (GHT) 110.00p +0.92%

Spirent Communications (SPT) 76.00p +0.66%

KCOM Group (KCOM) 91.00p +0.55%

XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,629.00p +0.25%

Consort Medical (CSRT) 930.00p +0.16%

FTSE TechMARK - Fallers

BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 19.50p -2.50%

Dialight (DIA) 664.50p -1.63%

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 7.80p -1.14%

IShares Euro Gov Bond 7-10YR UCITS ETF (IEGM) € 203.70 -0.17%

SDL (SDL) 360.75p -0.14%