London midday: Stocks trim gains ahead of early finish on NYE

UK stocks had pared gains by midday but were still trading marginally in positive territory heading into the close on a shortened New Year’s Eve session.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.05% at 6,551 by noon on the last trading day of the year, but looks set to finish December down 2.6% - its worst December in 12 years.

The index now stands nearly 3% lower than where it started at the beginning of 2014.

Trading on the London Stock Exchange will end at 12:30, a number of European indices finish at 13:00, while markets in Japan, Germany and Italy were closed. Wall Street will open as usual later on.

“With numerous countries enjoying bank holidays today and the likes of the FTSE closing just after midday, traders have seen a lethargic market struggle to move into second gear,” said analyst Alastair McCaig from IG.

The FTSE 100 dropped 1.3% the previous session, snapping an eight-day winning streak, as uncertainty surrounding the future of Greek politics and ongoing falls in the price of oil weighed on stocks.

Investors on Wednesday were reacting to the confirmation that manufacturing activity in China declined in December for the first time in seven months. The final reading of the HSBC China manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) was revised up to 49.6, down from the initial estimate of 49.5, but still remained below the break-even mark of 50 which it reached in November.

The Chinese government's own manufacturing PMI is due out overnight and is forecast to drop to 50 from 50.3 in November.

Housebuilders and property stocks rise, resources drop

Housebuilding and property stocks were performing well in London including Taylor Wimpey, CRH, Hammerson, Barratt Developments, Bovis Homes and Land Securities.

Shopping centre developer Capital & Regional also gained after saying it is set to benefit from tax breaks after converting to a real estate investment trust.

Heading the other way were stocks in the energy sector as Brent crude futures moved lower by over 3% to $56.11 a barrel. Tullow Oil and Shell were among the heaviest fallers, along with miners Fresnillo and Glencore as metals' prices also weakened.

Business communications supplier Daisy Group, which is being taken over by a private equity consortium, posted narrower half-year losses, but said revenue had fallen, causing the stock to decline.

Shares in Asia Resource Minerals, the collapsed Indonesian coal mining giant formerly known as Bumi, soared over 400% after the firm won the right to claim $173m back from former director Rosan Roeslani.

Market Movers

techMARK 2,957.46 +0.22%
FTSE 100 6,550.57 +0.05%
FTSE 250 16,052.03 +0.39%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,019.00p +1.90%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 136.70p +1.86%
Meggitt (MGGT) 519.00p +1.76%
Pearson (PSON) 1,188.00p +1.63%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 466.40p +1.59%
3i Group (III) 449.50p +1.51%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 872.00p +1.45%
Kingfisher (KGF) 337.00p +1.38%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 996.00p +1.37%
SABMiller (SAB) 3,357.50p +1.34%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Tullow Oil (TLW) 409.80p -1.35%
TUI AG Reg Shs (Post- 16/12/14)(DI) (TUIJ) 1,041.00p -1.33%
GKN (GKN) 342.90p -0.90%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,221.50p -0.78%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 709.00p -0.77%
St James's Place (STJ) 801.50p -0.74%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,146.00p -0.65%
Sage Group (SGE) 465.80p -0.64%
Fresnillo (FRES) 764.00p -0.59%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,182.00p -0.59%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Allied Minds (ALM) 383.00p +9.74%
Infinis Energy (INFI) 219.30p +4.93%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 235.10p +4.44%
Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 178.00p +3.49%
Serco Group (SRP) 160.40p +3.02%
Pace (PIC) 347.70p +2.81%
Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 501.50p +2.77%
Man Group (EMG) 161.60p +2.54%
Afren (AFR) 46.94p +2.44%
Playtech (PTEC) 686.50p +2.39%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 58.25p -2.27%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,575.00p -2.19%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 569.00p -2.07%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 193.80p -2.02%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 412.00p -1.90%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 303.20p -1.78%
Supergroup (SGP) 882.00p -1.78%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,257.00p -1.64%
Grainger (GRI) 188.40p -1.62%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 599.50p -1.56%