FTSE 100 movers: Mixed China data a drag on stocks

(Sharecast News) - FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,711.04 -0.28% A barrage of weak economic data may have soured sentiment on the first trading session of 2024, with manufacturing purchasing managers' indices (PMIs) from across the eurozone and UK confirming that the industrial downturn continued in December. Meanwhile, two closely watched surveys covering China's manufacturing sector showed conflicting results, with official government figures pointing to a continued contraction and a Caixin Global report indicating a pick-up in growth.

The private Caixin China manufacturing PMI expanded with a reading of 50.8, slightly up from November's 50.7. However, the official PMI from the National Bureau of Statistics painted a different picture, reporting a contraction with a reading of 49.0, down from November's 49.4. The official data was the third consecutive month of contraction in China's manufacturing, raising the possibility of increased policy support to stimulate the economy.

Leading the fallers on the FTSE 100 were stocks heavily exposed to China, such as insurance group Prudential and banking giant HSBC, along with miners Antofagasta, Anglo American and Fresnillo.

FTSE 100 - Risers

GSK (GSK) 1,477.80p 1.90% Vodafone Group (VOD) 69.71p 1.68% British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,331.50p 1.57% AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,756.00p 1.47% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 276.30p 1.43% BT Group (BT.A) 125.00p 1.13% Weir Group (WEIR) 1,904.50p 0.95% Barclays (BARC) 155.22p 0.94% BP (BP.) 470.35p 0.90% Beazley (BEZ) 526.00p 0.77%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Diploma (DPLM) 3,430.00p -4.24% 3i Group (III) 2,333.00p -3.63% Prudential (PRU) 857.40p -3.36% St James's Place (STJ) 661.40p -3.25% Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,170.00p -3.19% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 160.75p -3.13% Fresnillo (FRES) 575.80p -3.13% Rightmove (RMV) 558.00p -3.06% Frasers Group (FRAS) 884.00p -2.91% Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 700.80p -2.86%