London open: Stocks rise but FTSE 100 on track for annual decline

London’s stock market rose on Wednesday after a sell-off the previous session, but still looked set to finish 2014 in the red.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 6,559 on the last trading day of the year, but has fallen around 2.8% since the start of January.

For the month of December alone, the Footsie has dropped 2.4% despite a late Santa Rally, meaning that the index is set for its worst December for 12 years.

The FTSE 100 dropped 1.3% the previous session, snapping an eight-day winning streak, as uncertainty surrounding the future of Greek politics and ongoing fall in the oil prices weighed on stocks.

Market sentiment was likely to be dampened further by the confirmation that manufacturing activity in China declined in December for the first time in seven months.

The final reading of the HSBC China manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) was revised up to 49.6 from the initial estimate of 49.5, but still remained below the break-even mark of 50 which it reached in November.

The Chinese government's own manufacturing PMI is due out overnight and is forecast to drop to 50 from 50.3 in November.

Trading volumes are expected to be low on Wednesday with a number of markets finishing early and some already closed for the New Year break. Trading on the London Stock Exchange will end at 12:30, while markets in Japan, Germany and Italy are closed.

Housebuilders, property stocks provide a lift

Housebuilders such as Taylor Wimpey, Bellway, Persimmon and Barratt Developments were performing well early on, along with property groups British Land, Intu Properties and Land Securities.

Shopping centre developer Capital & Regional also gained after saying it is set to benefit from tax breaks after converting to a real estate investment trust.

Shares in Asia Resource Minerals, the collapsed Indonesian coal mining giant formerly known as Bumi, soared over 300% after the firm won the right to claim $173m back from former director Rosan Roeslani.

Business communications supplier Daisy Group, which is being taking over by a private equity consortium, posted narrower half-year losses, but said revenue had fallen, causing the stock to decline early on.

Market Movers
techMARK 2,958.98 +0.27%
FTSE 100 6,559.04 +0.18%
FTSE 250 16,010.58 +0.13%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Old Mutual (OML) 192.20p +1.80%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,410.00p +1.71%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 999.00p +1.68%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 136.20p +1.49%
SABMiller (SAB) 3,360.00p +1.42%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,190.00p +1.40%
Schroders (SDR) 2,700.00p +1.35%
Kingfisher (KGF) 336.80p +1.32%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 465.10p +1.31%
CRH (CRH) 1,548.00p +1.31%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Tullow Oil (TLW) 409.80p -1.35%
Centrica (CNA) 275.20p -1.18%
Sky (SKY) 889.50p -0.95%
TUI AG Reg Shs (Post- 16/12/14)(DI) (TUIJ) 1,046.00p -0.85%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 242.60p -0.82%
Glencore (GLEN) 297.65p -0.78%
Unilever (ULVR) 2,606.00p -0.65%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,096.00p -0.63%
Sage Group (SGE) 466.70p -0.45%
Aviva (AV.) 483.60p -0.41%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Serco Group (SRP) 162.00p +4.05%
Saga (SAGA) 151.70p +3.13%
RPS Group (RPS) 215.00p +2.72%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 231.20p +2.71%
SIG (SHI) 174.70p +2.58%
Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 500.50p +2.56%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 205.00p +2.50%
Pace (PIC) 346.30p +2.40%
Infinis Energy (INFI) 214.00p +2.39%
Playtech (PTEC) 686.00p +2.31%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 112.40p -3.27%
SSP Group (SSPG) 280.10p -2.88%
PayPoint (PAY) 888.50p -2.63%
COLT Group SA (COLT) 130.10p -2.18%
NMC Health (NMC) 450.00p -2.17%
Laird (LRD) 301.43p -1.97%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,253.00p -1.96%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 570.00p -1.89%
Soco International (SIA) 295.20p -1.80%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 381.80p -1.72%