LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Stocks were steady come midday despite weaker than expected readings on the manufacturing sector out of the UK and China, as investors looked out to key political events worldwide later in the week.
As of 1157 GMT the FTSE 100 was trading 0.03% or 1.99 points higher to 7,325.18.

March's reading on the IHS Markit's manufacturing sector purchasing managers' index revealed weakness in the consumer goods industry, which came as little surprise to economists at Barclays, who believed optimism with relation to "improvement in domestic demand" was likely exaggerated.

The PMI fell back to 54.2 in March from a downwardly revised 54.5 for February, confounding forecasts for an uprtick to 55.0, as rising inflation, together with stagnant growth in nominal incomes, sapped purchasing power, Barclays said.

"There is certainly an argument that UK manufacturers are in a 'sweet spot'. The pound has fallen because Britain is leaving the single market, but exporters still have tariff-free access to the EU as before. The concern is that once you lose access to the single market suddenly things don't look so clever and this buoyancy in the manufacturing sector starts to deflate. You may need to see further depreciation in sterling to offset," chimed in Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital.

Monday's UK data came on top of a slowdown in export orders and production which saw Caixin's China factory sector PMI slip from a reading of 51.7 for March to 51.2 for February.

Acting as a backdrop, traders were waiting on Tuesday night's second televised debate between the main French presidential candidates ahead of the first round of voting scheduled for 23 April.

Later in the week, on Thursday and Friday, US president Donald Trump is set to host his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Florida.

Still ahead on the economic calendar today are speeches from three top Fed officials, beginning with New York fed chief William Dudley at 1530 GMT, perhaps with an eye on Friday's all-important US jobs report.

Imagine: Let's not, Apple says

Apple has informed Imagination Technologies Group that it plans to stop using the UK-based group's processor chips in its new products within the next two years as it had developed its own version of the hardware, leading the latter to seemingly hint at potential legal action.

Consumer products maker Reckitt Benckiser confirmed it was considering options for its food business, which includes the French's mustard brand, on Monday.The FTSE 100 firm was the subject of press speculation over the weekend, with the Sunday Times suggesting it was seeking a possible buyer for the food division to fund the takeover of US baby food manufacturer Mead Johnson. "We have ... decided to initiate a strategic review of Food where we will explore all options for this great business," Reckitt's board said on Monday.

Babcock was chosen as the preferred bidder to become the Marine Systems Support Partner for the Royal Navy's new Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers and Type 45 Destroyers. The MoD programme is potentially worth £360m spread across seven years.

Industrial equipment rental company Ashtead Group has bought New York-based Pride Equipment Corporation for £279m. The FTSE 100 company's US subsidiary Sunbelt Rentals bought Pride to further enhance its position in the New York City market with a complementary firm renting smaller and medium sized equipment, which offers cross selling opportunities.

Babcock International Group, a supplier of support services to the armed forces, has been selected as a preferred bidder for a Ministry of Defence programme worth about £360m over seven years. If selected, Babcock will become the marine systems support partner for the Royal Navy's new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers and Type 45 destroyers.

Animal genetics specialist Genus has won its litigation case against rival Sexing Technologies' owner Inguran, allowing the UK company to enter the market for the processing of sexed bovine semen. The court removed various contractual restrictions that had been blocking the way for Genus subsidiary ABS Global to commercially launch the Genus Sexed Semen (GSS) programme.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,325.48 0.03%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,946.64 -0.13%
techMARK (TASX) 3,431.56 -0.58%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,344.00p 2.90%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,958.00p 1.61%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,748.00p 1.39%
BP (BP.) 462.80p 1.15%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 3,207.00p 1.14%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 281.50p 0.90%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 889.50p 0.85%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,672.00p 0.75%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,665.00p 0.73%
GKN (GKN) 365.90p 0.72%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Next (NXT) 4,214.00p -2.45%
ITV (ITV) 213.60p -2.42%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,521.00p -2.25%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,485.00p -1.34%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,013.00p -1.27%
Old Mutual (OML) 198.10p -1.25%
Barclays (BARC) 222.35p -1.22%
Prudential (PRU) 1,666.00p -1.19%
Hammerson (HMSO) 564.50p -1.14%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,047.00p -1.13%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Atkins (WS) (ATK) 1,619.00p 5.13%
ZPG Plc (ZPG) 371.30p 2.29%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 4,875.00p 2.22%
RPC Group (RPC) 796.50p 1.92%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 411.90p 1.91%
PayPoint (PAY) 1,042.00p 1.66%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 933.50p 1.58%
Bankers Inv Trust (BNKR) 744.50p 1.50%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 325.40p 1.50%
CYBG (CYBG) 281.50p 1.40%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Allied Minds (ALM) 287.00p -5.81%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 461.60p -4.82%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 271.20p -2.41%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 311.40p -1.95%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 720.00p -1.84%
Saga (SAGA) 199.70p -1.72%
TP ICAP (TCAP) 456.80p -1.66%
Paysafe Group (PAYS) 460.00p -1.63%
Savills (SVS) 907.00p -1.52%
William Hill (WMH) 286.50p -1.48%

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