Market overview: Marks&Spencer and Meggitt lead gains

1630:Close UK stocks finished the session with a large gain, led by gains in Marks&Spencer after the firm beat analysts’ forecasts’ for its half-year results. Meggitt was another stand-out performer, with investors welcoming the announcement of a share buyback programme and ignoring warnings of a slowdown in growth in the fourth quarter. All of the above came on the back of figures showing that growth in the crucial UK services industry slowed to a 17-month low last month, sparking fresh concern about the faltering UK economic recovery. The US ISM services sector PMI came in a tad below market forecasts, although a sub-index on employment notched nine-year highs. FTSE 100 up 85 to 6,539.14.

1531: As Jeffrey Hirsch, editor-in-chief of the Stock Trader’s Almanac, reminds us, the Dow Jones industrial average has not seen a loss in the third-year – which we are now entering - of a US presidency since 1939. The reason is quite simple, in the run-up to the next elections the powers that be look to stimulate the economy. To take note of as well, in the years when a Democratic president must work with a Republican-led House and Senate, the S&P 500 has risen by 8.6%, Sam Stovall, US equity strategist for S&P Capital IQ’s Sam Stovall said.

1500: The headline ISM services sector purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipped to a reading of 57.1 from September’s print of 58.6, whereas economists had been expecting a reading of 58. A gauge of new orders fell to 59.1 from 61 in the month before, while a sub-index tracking employment conditions increased to 59.6, from 58.5, hitting a nine-year high in the process. “On the face of it, that’s consistent with monthly increases in payroll employment of more than 300,000,” wrote Capital Economics’ Paul Dales in an afternoon note to clients.

1315: The US private sector generated 230,000 employment positions in October, according to consultancy ADP. Economists had been expecting 214,000 new jobs to have been created.

1143: Analysts at Investec point out that the trade unions at Aer Lingus are expected to vote on the IASS resolution today, "which could be the most important news of all."

1141: Shares of gold miner Centamin are dropping sharply after the company lowered its annual forecasts for production from its flagship Sukari Gold Mine after plant productivity suffered a slowdown in October.

0930: At 56.2 for October the UK services PMI has dropped to its weakest since May 2013, after a reading of 58.7 in the month before (consensus: 58.5). Commenting on the data Fabrice Montagne at Barclays Research was of a similar view, telling clients that: “Looking through month-on-month volatility, PMIs have been trending down since the second half of 2013 and we expect this to continue. The sharp drop in October contradicts the relative stability in activity surveys since the beginning of the year, but is in line with a downward-sloping trend initiated last year and points to an on-going moderation in activity.”

0830: UK stocks have begun the morning moving higher despite the slightly mixed close to trading seen overnight on Wall Street. Front month Brent crude futures are slipping lower again, trading below the $82 per barrel mark, while dollar/yen is continuing to push upwards, towards 114.5. Marks&Spencer is in the lead early on after hiking its interim dividend unexpectedly by 0.2p to 6.4p. Shares of Centamin are doing worst on the FTSE 250, pressured lower by the strengthening dollar. The latest services sector PMI figures are due out at 09:30. FTSE 100 up 23 to 6,477.