London open: Stocks decline ahead of services PMIs

Oil prices remained under pressure on doubts that global crude producers would reach an agreement to freeze production at a meeting on 17 April. Saudi Arabia said on Friday it would only freeze production if Iran follows suit. Iran has ruled out freezing output until its production recovers to levels seen before its sanctions.

At 0850 BST, Brent crude slid 0.64% to $37.45 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate declined 0.99% to $35.35 per barrel.

Meanwhile, Eurozone services purchasing managers’ index was revised down to 53.1 in March from a previous estimate of 54.0. It compared to a reading of 53.3 in February and forecasts of 54.0. A level above 50 signals an expansion while a reading below that indicates a contraction.

Markit’s UK services PMI is due at 0930 BST, with analysts expecting a slight improvement in expansion for March. Markit will release its US services PMI at 1445 BST while ISM publishes its non-manufacturing services composite at 1500 BST.

In Germany, a report revealed factory orders rose 0.5% in February compared to the same month a year ago, missing expectations for 2.2% growth.

Across the Atlantic, Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans said in Hong Kong that the central bank has to be proactive and aggressive to reach its 2% target. The Fed's preferred annual measure of inflation came in flat at 1.7% in February.

On the company front, Moss Bros Group’s shares gained after the menswear retailer posted a rise in full year profit and sounded an upbeat note on current trading.

Electrocomponents jumped after saying it expected full year profits to hit the top end of market expectations, following a solid fourth quarter in which the UK recovery gained pace.

Card Factory edged higher after reporting its full year pre-tax profit almost doubled to £83.7m, driven by strong sales and new store openings.

Motoring services company the AA fell after it said revenue fell 0.4% to £968m in the 12 months to 31 January.

Mining stocks were the biggest fallers including BHP Billiton, Glencore, Anglo American and Rio Tinto amid concerns about the global economy and falling commodities prices.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,092.60 -1.17%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,721.54 -0.74%
techMARK (TASX) 3,107.67 -0.79%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,234.00p 1.03%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,250.00p 0.73%
Worldpay Group (WI) (WPG) 279.40p 0.50%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,534.00p 0.39%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,799.00p 0.32%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 191.50p 0.31%
British Land Company (BLND) 697.50p 0.29%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,112.00p 0.24%
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,975.00p 0.24%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 915.00p 0.22%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

BHP Billiton (BLT) 738.00p -4.12%
Glencore (GLEN) 143.75p -4.04%
Anglo American (AAL) 526.50p -3.84%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 1,912.00p -3.21%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,643.50p -2.84%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,630.50p -2.80%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 440.95p -2.46%
Barclays (BARC) 146.70p -2.36%
BP (BP.) 336.80p -2.29%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 645.00p -2.20%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Electrocomponents (ECM) 258.90p 6.72%
Ibstock (IBST) 204.40p 2.15%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 333.20p 1.99%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,483.00p 1.92%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 245.50p 1.36%
P2P Global Investments (P2P) 879.00p 1.15%
Pendragon (PDG) 36.57p 1.05%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 376.60p 0.91%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 90.00p 0.78%
Homeserve (HSV) 437.30p 0.76%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Allied Minds (ALM) 429.40p -5.40%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,019.00p -5.30%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 330.20p -3.17%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 425.40p -3.03%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 273.10p -2.81%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 209.00p -2.79%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,033.00p -2.73%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 846.50p -2.42%
Victrex plc (VCT) 1,581.00p -2.41%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 186.70p -2.40%