Shares in London and mainland Europe were on the back foot on Tuesday as economic data from the region disappointed.
The FTSE 100 Index fell 23.34 points to 6275 while Germany's Dax was down 30 points and France's CAC-40 was one point off.
In contrast to an anticipated increase, German factory orders declined 1.8% month-on-month (M/M) in August, with weakness in domestic and overseas orders, down 2.6% M/M and 1.2% M/M respectively.
On a slightly brighter note, German retail purchasing managers figures fell slightly, but rounded off the best quarter since 2006.
French retail sales showed a further slight fall in September, but Italian retail PMI numbers rose to their highest since January 2010.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite rose half a per cent to 3,053 towards the close while Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1% to 18,186.
Back in London, there was some brighter news to offset recent economic gloom as new car sales rose 8.6% year-on-year in September, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers.
On the corporate front, baker Greggs (LON:GRG) heated up 66p to 1142p on news of better-than-expected third quarter sales.
Brewer SABMiller (LON:SAB) lost its fizz by 38p to 3726p as it released a trading update early due to an expected takeover bid by rival Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Elsewhere, Aquarius Platinum (LON:AQP) shone 3.47p to 11.5p as Sibanye Gold made a buyout bid for the miner.
Specialist healthcare company BTG (LON:BTG) upset investors, indicating that full-year revenue will be in the bottom half of the group’s guidance range. Shares were bumped 10% lower to 598p.
In the small cap space, Independent Resources (LON:IRG) and Nostra Terra Oil & Gas (LON:NTOG) have struck a deal to acquire a 50% non-operated stake in producing assets in Egypt.
The pair of AIM oil companies, which set up a joint venture last month, are to acquire the stake in the East Ghazalat concession for US$3.5mln.
Shares in Independent rose 13.3% to 0.85p while Nostra’s shares gained 14.7% to 0.1p.
UK potash mine developer Sirius minerals (LON:SXX) nudged higher today as the firm said it expects the final decision on its Yorkshire mine site to be released shortly.
Conversely, Paragon Entertainment (LON:PEL) dropped some 26% to 1.85p as it said that, due to delays on certain projects, it now expects full year results for this year to be below current expectations.
MARKET PREVIEW
London’s blue-chip shares are set for a nervy start, but expected to open slightly ahead this morning as investors continue to shrug off dire European industry data.
Yesterday saw a swathe of disappointing service sector purchasing managers' index data from the UK and the Eurozone.
But the FTSE100 ended the day significantly higher on stronger commodity prices, a trend which should push the index around 6 points higher.
It seems investors could also be willing to take a punt on China’s improvement.
Angus Nicholson at IG, said: “The Chinese PMIs seemed to have eased fears that the economy would collapse while the US non-farm payrolls (NFP) numbers have pushed back the likely date of a rate rise by the Fed into 2016.”
That was the case on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones was some 304 points higher at 16,776 while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose 36 points and 73 points to 1,987 and 4,781 respectively.
In Asia, the shanghai Compostie rose half a per cent to 3,053 at time of writing while Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1% to 18,186.
On the corporate front today, investors will be looking at whether Greggs can keep on rolling in its trading update, while keeping an eye on whether Ted Baker is still in fashion with the release of its interim results.