London open: Stocks drop as China services PMI falls

UK stocks declined on Thursday as a report showed Chinese services activity slowed in February.

Caixin’s purchasing managers’ index on China services fell to 51.2 in February from 52.4 in January, although remaining above the 50 level that separates an expansion from a contraction.

“Of course this won’t have helped the markets regain the confidence that was so rampant on the first day of the month, a reminder of the Chinese slowdown the last thing anyone needs to hear when they wake up for a day’s trading,” said Conor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.

In the UK, Nationwide revealed house prices rose less than expected in February. House prices increased 0.3% on the month and 4.8% on the year, compared to analysts’ estimates of 0.5% and 5% growth respectively.

Still to come, the UK services PMI from Markit/CIPS will be released at 0930 GMT while the US sees the release of initial jobless claims at 1330 GMT, ISM’s non-manufacturing services composite at 1500 GMT and factory orders at 1500 GMT.

Meanwhile, oil prices declined as government data on Wednesday showed an increase in US crude inventories. Brent crude fell 0.49% to $36.75 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate dropped 0.31% to $34.55 per barrel on 0909 GMT. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reported crude inventories rose by 10.4m barrels to a total of 518m barrels last week, well above the 3.6m barrel increase expected by analysts.

In company news, Admiral’s shares surged after reporting record annual pre-tax profits of £377m for 2015, up 6% on the previous year.

CRH rallied after reporting a 33% jump in full year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to €2.2bn.

Inmarsat slumped as it said full year pre-tax profit slid 17.3% to $282m on flat revenues of $1.27bn.

Travis Perkins gained after reporting adjusted operating profit increased 7.6% to £413m in 2015 as revenues rose 6.5%.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,119.78 -0.44%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,672.78 -0.34%
techMARK (TASX) 3,155.95 -0.85%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Admiral Group (ADM) 1,869.00p 6.19%
CRH (CRH) 1,918.00p 3.68%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,961.00p 3.35%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,856.00p 3.34%
Schroders (SDR) 2,806.00p 3.24%
Glencore (GLEN) 139.10p 2.73%
Anglo American (AAL) 535.30p 2.14%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 267.20p 2.10%
SSE (SSE) 1,420.00p 2.08%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 793.40p 1.93%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Persimmon (PSN) 2,009.00p -6.30%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 924.00p -4.35%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,915.00p -3.31%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 457.80p -2.93%
ITV (ITV) 234.90p -2.49%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 436.70p -2.37%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,689.50p -2.25%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 178.80p -1.92%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,373.50p -1.61%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 438.80p -1.53%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Vedanta Resources (VED) 342.70p 9.77%
Aggreko (AGK) 957.50p 6.92%
Evraz (EVR) 72.15p 2.78%
Serco Group (SRP) 104.70p 2.65%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 311.60p 2.16%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 234.50p 1.96%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 169.00p 1.81%
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (ASL) 1,024.00p 1.69%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 158.31p 1.55%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 181.00p 1.51%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Cobham (COB) 234.00p -9.65%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 977.00p -4.03%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 104.10p -3.97%
Indivior (INDV) 159.60p -3.80%
Victrex plc (VCT) 1,475.00p -3.78%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 917.50p -2.60%
John Laing Infrastructure Fund Ltd (JLIF) 113.90p -2.57%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 270.60p -2.42%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 549.00p -2.31%
Playtech (PTEC) 827.00p -2.30%