London open: UK stocks extend slide as Chinese data disappoints

Yet more disappointing economic data from China pushed UK stocks lower for the seventh straight session on Tuesday, with markets extending losses despite plunging to an 18-month low the previous session.

Not even the news that the Bank of England (BoE) has given a clean bill of health to seven out of eight of the UK’s top financial institutions could ease the slide, with sentiment still fragile after the recent sell-off.

London’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.5% lower at 6,152 early deals.

Weighing on stocks was the news that Chinese factory output contracted more than expected this month. HSBC’s China manufacturing purchasing managers’ index declined from the break-even point of 50 in November to 49.5 in December, worse than the consensus forecast of 49.8.

The FTSE 100 sank 1.7% to finish at 6,182.72 on Monday - its worst close since June 2013 - as commodity stocks tanked on the falling oil price.

Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude have fallen by over 45% this year and were continuing to set fresh five-year lows. Brent in particular dropped below $60 a barrel on Tuesday, a level not seen since July 2009.

“Fear has spread through the markets causing another dismal day for equities, oil and a surprise interest rate hike,” said Rocky Muddar, a trader at TradeNext.

The recent slide in oil further hammered Russia’s rouble on Monday - down 50% against the dollar this year - prompting Moscow to take the drastic move and hike interest rates from 10.5% to 17%.

Banks in focus after BoE stress tests

Seven out of eight of the UK’s largest banks and building societies have passed the BoE’s latest round of stress tests, with the struggling Co-operative Bank being the only lender to have failed. BoE governor Mark Carney said that the results show that “the core of the banking system is significantly more resilient”.

However, both RBS and Lloyds only narrowly managed to exceed the minimum capital buffer of 4.5% under the most severe economic scenario, achieving ratios of just 4.6% and 5.0% respectively. The sector as a whole was trading lower early on.

BT Group was subdued after announcing after the close that it intends to buy UK mobile network operator EE for £12.5bn in a cash-and-stock deal. The company will be giving EE’s owners Deutsche Telekom and Orange stakes of 12% and 4%, respectively.

Mining giants Fresnillo, BHP Billiton and Anglo American were in the red after the worse-than-expected data from top metals user China, while oil producers BP, Tullow Oil and Shell were continuing to track the price of crude lower.

Market Movers
techMARK 2,817.81 -0.24%
FTSE 100 6,151.93 -0.50%
FTSE 250 15,159.66 -0.49%

FTSE 100 - Risers
United Utilities Group (UU.) 912.50p +1.84%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,937.00p +1.25%
BAE Systems (BA.) 439.40p +1.01%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 917.00p +0.88%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 815.50p +0.74%
3i Group (III) 416.80p +0.72%
Sky (SKY) 869.00p +0.70%
Centrica (CNA) 263.90p +0.69%
Capita (CPI) 1,008.00p +0.60%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,693.00p +0.49%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 3,945.00p -3.64%
BP (BP.) 365.10p -2.18%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 672.50p -1.97%
Fresnillo (FRES) 698.00p -1.97%
Mondi (MNDI) 986.50p -1.94%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,078.00p -1.87%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,252.50p -1.84%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 352.20p -1.84%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 225.20p -1.79%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,683.00p -1.58%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,029.00p +2.90%
Computacenter (CCC) 595.00p +1.97%
NMC Health (NMC) 475.90p +1.69%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 486.50p +1.50%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 2,290.30p +1.34%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 301.50p +1.14%
Pennon Group (PNN) 877.50p +1.09%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 289.40p +1.08%
Workspace Group (WKP) 699.50p +1.01%
COLT Group SA (COLT) 127.20p +0.95%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
EnQuest (ENQ) 31.37p -8.81%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 537.50p -5.04%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 179.70p -4.92%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 50.95p -4.86%
Evraz (EVR) 114.90p -4.33%
Polymetal International (POLY) 572.00p -3.54%
Fenner (FENR) 190.60p -3.10%
RPS Group (RPS) 200.50p -2.86%
Premier Oil (PMO) 147.60p -2.77%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 180.00p -2.65%