LONDON (ShareCast) - - Manufacturing PMIs in UK, Eurozone, China fall
- Eyes on US payrolls
- BP jumps on TNK-BP sale

After a bright start early on, London's blue chip index had dropped into the red by Friday lunchtime after a barrage of disappointing manufacturing data dampened market sentiment.

Manufacturing purchasing managers' indices (PMIs) in the UK, Eurozone and China suffered falls in May, according to the latest data released today.

UK manufacturing PMI fell from 50.2 in April to a worse-than-expected 45.9 last month, the second-steepest fall in 20 years. China's official manufacturing PMI fell from 53.3 to 50.4 while HSBC's own Chinese PMI fell from 49.3 to 48.4. As for the Eurozone, the PMI was revised slightly higher from 45.0 to 45.1 but was still firmly below April's 45.9.

A raft of economic data from the US is due out later today, including its own manufacturing figures, but the focus will likely be on the May employment report; jobs growth was expected to be solid last month and better than the 115,000 jobs added in April.

Votes are currently being counted in Ireland where the public is expected to ratify its 'fiscal compact' with the European Union (EU). Irish polls closed last night and the count, which began at 09:00, is expected to finalise sometime this afternoon; government officials have told Reuters that citizens voted in favour of the measure by a ratio of three to two.

Shareholders celebrate BP's intention to sell stake in TNK-BP

BP surged early on after revealing that it wants to sell-up at TNK-BP, the joint venture it set up with a consortium of Russian investors, as speculation has run rampant in recent days of a breakdown in the relationship between the British oil firm and its partners. Jefferies this morning estimated that the 50% stake in the Russian joint venture is worth $30bn.

After rising early on, banking peers RBS, Lloyds and Barclays slipped lower on the back of the disappointing economic data. Resources were also suffering from risk aversion - particularly due to the weak figures out from China - with Evraz, Fresnillo and Tullow Oil registering steep falls, tracking commodity prices lower.

Telecoms giant BT Group rose after saying that it has sold its application development services business in France to the Paris-listed IT services company, Osiatis.

On the FTSE 250, RIT Capital Partners rose after announcing a big increase in its dividend despite reporting a drop in its net asset value (NAV).

Edinburgh Investment Trust edged higher after reporting a resilient performance in the year to March 31st, growing NAV by a tenth in spite of volatile market conditions.

FTSE 100 - Risers
Man Group (EMG) 76.60p +5.08%
BP (BP.) 405.00p +2.56%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,748.00p +1.57%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,051.00p +1.15%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 664.00p +1.07%
SSE (SSE) 1,337.00p +1.06%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,357.00p +0.64%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 139.50p +0.58%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 173.65p +0.38%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 511.20p +0.33%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,290.00p -4.30%
Croda International (CRDA) 2,148.00p -3.94%
GKN (GKN) 175.80p -3.93%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,484.00p -3.89%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,492.00p -3.56%
Evraz (EVR) 285.40p -3.35%
IMI (IMI) 855.50p -3.33%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,375.00p -3.31%
Amec (AMEC) 935.00p -3.21%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 900.00p -3.12%

FTSE 250 - Risers
PayPoint (PAY) 627.50p +2.20%
SDL (SDL) 641.00p +1.91%
Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 27.66p +1.39%
WH Smith (SMWH) 487.80p +1.35%
Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 415.10p +1.24%
Savills (SVS) 321.60p +1.13%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 433.80p +0.95%
Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 206.00p +0.93%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 357.80p +0.93%
De La Rue (DLAR) 1,009.00p +0.90%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 65.00p -11.38%
Fenner (FENR) 348.90p -7.48%
Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 461.90p -6.29%
Bodycote (BOY) 355.70p -6.17%
Persimmon (PSN) 536.00p -5.63%
Afren (AFR) 109.70p -5.51%
Ruspetro (RPO) 147.10p -5.34%
Melrose (MRO) 402.50p -5.23%
Redrow (RDW) 104.00p -5.02%
Yule Catto & Co (YULC) 191.90p -4.76%

BC

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