FTSE100 closed lower as traders fleed equities, and notably miners.
That was due to disappointing manufacturing data from the economic powerhouse, which showed the July manufacturing PMI posted a reading at 47.8, down from 49.4 in June and below the neutral 50.0 mark for the fifth successive month.
FTSE100 closed at 6,688, down 0.11%, or around seven points lower with Anglo American (LON:AAL), the biggest faller, down 1.81% to 796p.
Glencore (LON:GLEN) dropped 1.44% to 205p, while BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) lost 1.69% to 1,162.5p.
The biggest gainer, however, was Intertek (LON:ITRK), which saw revenues climb 3.5% in the first half of 2015 compared to the same period the year before, with pre-tax profit up 6.3% to £149.8mln.
Shares added an impressive 7.07% to stand at 2,620p a pop.
It was 'Greece', however, that was again being typed out on keypads in newsrooms up and down the land, after the Athens stock exchange opened for the first time in five weeks, with restrictions in place, with the index plunging lower.
Lenders Piraeus Bank and National Bank of Greece sank 30%, the maximum allowed in a day by capital controls.
The market has been closed since Greek bailout talks stalled in June when the Greek people voted, via a referendum, to reject the terms offered by creditors.
“The sharp drops seen so far are dramatic, but really reflect investors playing catch-up following the remarkable events of the past month” Chris Beauchamp at IG said.
Also higher as the week began was jet engine maker Rolls-Royce (LON:RR.), up 5.92% to 841p on rumours that it could speed up its turnaround after an activist investor became its biggest shareholder.
According to reports, U.S. fund ValueAct wants Rolls-Royce to accelerate cost-cutting measures in its aero engines business after taking a 5.4% stake in the company.
Away from Footsie, Newspaper group Trinity Mirror (LON:TNI) cheered the market by reiterating full-year profits guidance despite a first half profits fall.
The company, which publishes the Daily Mirror, saw shares climb 12.78% to 150p.
Admiral (LON:ADM) shares tricked higher - 0.61% - to 1,490p as there was chatter about a possible bid for the firm.
It is the latest talk of M&A activity in the insurance sector. RSA (LON:RSA) last week was the subject - with Zurich considering a bid. RSA was up 1.75% to 523p on the day.
In small caps, Sunrise Resources (LON:SRES) said it expects to start drilling at Bay State silver project in Nevada this month after permitting came through. Shares climbed over 22% to 0.275p.
Elsewhere, Oilex (LON:OEX) rose 7.14% to 1.875p as Zeta Resources agreed to acquire a chunk of shares left over from its recent rights issue.
Zeta has agreed to take up to 62mln shares of the rights issue shortfall at the offer price of A$0.041, generating around A$2.55mln (£1.24mln).
CLOSER
FTSE100 closed lower as traders fleed equities, and notably miners.
That was due to disappointing manufacturing data from the economic powerhouse, which showed the July manufacturing PMI posted a reading at 47.8, down from 49.4 in June and below the neutral 50.0 mark for the fifth successive month.
FTSE100 closed at 6,688, down 0.11%, or around seven points lower with Anglo American (LON:AAL), the biggest faller, down 1.81% to 796p.
Glencore (LON:GLEN) dropped 1.44% to 205p, while BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) lost 1.69% to 1,162.5p.
The biggest gainer, however, was Intertek (LON:ITRK), which saw revenues climb 3.5% in the first half of 2015 compared to the same period the year before, with pre-tax profit up 6.3% to £149.8mln.
Shares added an impressive 7.07% to stand at 2,620p a pop.
It was 'Greece', however, that was again being typed out on keypads in newsrooms up and down the land, after the Athens stock exchange opened for the first time in five weeks, with restrictions in place, with the index plunging lower.
Lenders Piraeus Bank and National Bank of Greece sank 30%, the maximum allowed in a day by capital controls.
The market has been closed since Greek bailout talks stalled in June when the Greek people voted, via a referendum, to reject the terms offered by creditors.
“The sharp drops seen so far are dramatic, but really reflect investors playing catch-up following the remarkable events of the past month” Chris Beauchamp at IG said.
Also higher as the week began was jet engine maker Rolls-Royce (LON:RR.), up 5.92% to 841p on rumours that it could speed up its turnaround after an activist investor became its biggest shareholder.
According to reports, U.S. fund ValueAct wants Rolls-Royce to accelerate cost-cutting measures in its aero engines business after taking a 5.4% stake in the company.
Away from Footsie, Newspaper group Trinity Mirror (LON:TNI) cheered the market by reiterating full-year profits guidance despite a first half profits fall.
The company, which publishes the Daily Mirror, saw shares climb 12.78% to 150p.
Admiral (LON:ADM) shares tricked higher - 0.61% - to 1,490p as there was chatter about a possible bid for the firm.
It is the latest talk of M&A activity in the insurance sector. RSA (LON:RSA) last week was the subject - with Zurich considering a bid. RSA was up 1.75% to 523p on the day.
In small caps, Sunrise Resources (LON:SRES) said it expects to start drilling at Bay State silver project in Nevada this month after permitting came through. Shares climbed over 22% to 0.275p.
Elsewhere, Oilex (LON:OEX) rose 7.14% to 1.875p as Zeta Resources agreed to acquire a chunk of shares left over from its recent rights issue.
Zeta has agreed to take up to 62mln shares of the rights issue shortfall at the offer price of A$0.041, generating around A$2.55mln (£1.24mln).
Stratmin Global (LON:STGR) has achieved it target production rate for graphite from a pilot plant at Loharano in Madagascar sending its shares 25% higher to 4.38p
Following recent process changes and bottleneck clearing, up to 900kg of refined graphite is being produced per hour while maintaining graphite purity levels, the company said.
Purity is key to the price Stratmin receives for its graphite as it has an offtake deal for all output at 94% carbon or above.
Zamano (LON:ZMNO) added over 23% to 1.38p as the Irish mobile product billings provider Zamano (LON:ZMNO) has received a takeover bid.
An unnamed company has offered €0.20 per share in a “highly conditional approach” that still needs due diligence done on the deal.
“There can be no certainty that any offer will be made nor as to the terms of any offer” the company said.