(Alliance News) - London's FTSE 100 went into Monday afternoon higher, supported by China-exposed stocks after promising data there, but housebuilders struggled.
The FTSE 100 index rose 13.07 points, 0.2%, to 8,300.37. The FTSE 250 slipped just 6.30 points at 20,765.27, and the AIM All-Share added only 0.18 of a point at 732.67.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 833.95, the Cboe UK 250 lost 0.1% at 18,265.95, and the Cboe Small Companies rose 0.4% at 15,896.41.
The CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.3%, and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt shot up 0.8%. Frankfurt's DAX hit a record high earlier Monday. The CAC in Paris was hurt by French political uncertainty.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2710 early Monday afternoon in London, up from USD1.2697 at the time of the closing bell in London on Friday. The euro stood at USD1.0521, fading from USD1.0579. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY150.17, down from JPY150.43.
Sterling shook off weaker UK data. The UK manufacturing sector endured a sharper decline than expected last month, a survey showed, amid the steepest fall in new business since February.
Survey respondents also pointed to a delay in some investment decisions, by both manufacturers and customers, after the UK budget.
The S&P Global UK manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to a nine-month-low of 48.0 points in November from 49.9 in October. The final reading was below the flash estimate of 48.6 points.
The 50-point mark separates growth from decline, so the latest reading suggests the manufacturing economy is in downturn territory, after more-or-less treading water in October.
"Output fell for the first time in seven months following the sharpest retrenchment in new order intakes since February. Ongoing concerns surrounding the economic outlook, costs and weak demand meanwhile led to cutbacks in staffing, purchasing and inventory holdings," S&P Global said.
"Survey respondents linked the declines in output and new orders to delayed investment decisions, cutbacks to new projects due to domestic market uncertainty and rising geopolitical tensions. Some firms noted that announcements in the UK budget had led to budgets being re-appraised at manufacturers and their clients alike."
The UK government budget announced at the end of October included a number tax increases for companies.
Overseas orders declined for the 31st month on-the-spin. There was lower demand from the US, China, EU and Middle East. EU demand was hurt by weakness in the German automotive sector.
Eurozone factories suffered a "terrible" November, meanwhile. The Hamburg Commercial Bank manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 45.2 points in November, a two-month-low, from 46.0 in October. The reading was in line with the flash estimate published last month.
Hamburg Commercial Bank analyst Cyrus de la Rubia commented: "These numbers look terrible. It's like the eurozone's manufacturing recession is never going to end. As new orders fell fast and at an accelerated pace, there's no sign of a recovery anytime soon."
The story was a little more promising in China, where manufacturing activity accelerated at the fastest rate since June.
Supported by the robust China data, miners Anglo American and Rio Tinto rose 1.3% and 0.8% in London. Asia-focused insurer Prudential added 0.5%.
On the decline, BP and Shell fell 0.7% and 0.4% as Brent remained below the USD73 a barrel mark.
Brent oil was quoted at USD72.68 a barrel early Monday afternoon, edging up from USD72.65 at the time of the London equities close on Friday. Gold slipped to USSD2,642.01 an ounce from USD2,660.13.
Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya commented: "Opec could give a positive spin to oil prices this week, therefore, the short-term risks remain tilted to the upside until the December 5th announcement, but Opec alone will hardly reverse the medium-term bearish pressures if the demand side of the equation doesn't improve. Therefore, any price rallies in oil could be interesting top selling opportunities for medium-term bears."
Back in London, Vistry fell 3.6% and Persimmon lost 2.0%. RBC lowered both to 'underperform' from 'sector perform'.
CMC Markets rose 4.3%. Jefferies raised the trading platform provider to 'hold' from 'underperform'.
Elsewhere in London, Condor Gold shot up 18%. Metals Exploration fell 7.4%.
Philippines-focused mineral resources firm Metals Exploration confirmed a GBP67.5 million bid for fellow London listing Condor Gold.
Metals Exploration, which is backed by property financier Nick Candy, said it is offering 4.0526 shares and 9.9 pence in cash for each Condor share.
Metals Exploration said based on its closing share price on Friday, the offer values each Condor share at 33.0p or GBP67.5 million in total.
Galloway Ltd, which holds a just under 25% stake in Condor, has backed the offer. Galloway is owned by Condor Chair Jim Mellon.
Metals Exploration owns the Runruno gold project in northern Philippines.
In a statement from Sunday, Condor said it received two non-binding offers, one from Metals and another from Toronto-listed Calibre Mining. Calibre on Monday, however, said it does not plan to make an offer for Condor.
Still to come on Monday's economic calendar is a pair of US PMI readings at 1445 GMT and 1500.
US stocks are called to open lower in the first full trading day following Thanksgiving. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are all called down 0.1%.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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