London shares slipped into negative territory on Wednesday after upbeat Chinese economic data failed to buoy Asian markets.
The FTSE 100 Index fell 16.18 points to 5905 in morning trading following overnight falls for the Shanghai Composite and Japan's Nikkei.
The declines came despite a better-than-expected Chinese Caixin services figure.
US markets fared far worse with the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumping 295 points to 16,154 as oil companies sank under the pressure of weak crude prices.
But the price of a barrel of Brent crude picked up 1.8% to US$33.3 in early trading, which helped to limit share losses.
In UK economics, the services sector Purchasing Managers Index from Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply (CIPS) showed a slight uptick in January to 55.6 from 55.5 in December, with any figure above 50 representing growth.
In equities, stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HL.) fell 56p, or 4.25%, to 1261p after it said margins had dropped despite higher first-half profits.
Drug group GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK) was 0.5p healthier at 1426.5p on unconfirmed market rumours that it could break itself up or may face a takeover from the likes of Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RB.) or Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG). The company was also due to report fourth quarter results at midday.
Blood flow monitoring system developer Deltex Medical (LON:DEMG) backtracked 0.25p to 4.38p after confirming it intends to raise up to £3mln through new convertible loans, a placing and an open offer.
Green Dragon Gas (LON:GDG) exceeded its production target in 2015 and pencilled a rise of a third in capacity this year, but its shares deflated 1.45p to 261.05p.
Shares in Andes Energia (LON:AEN) reversed 0.81p to 16.69p as the South American-focused oil & gas group confirmed total production for December amounted to 3,287 barrels per day.
MARKET PREVIEW
London’s blue chips are set for early falls after a battering for US and Asian markets overnight.
Spread bet firms see FTSE 100 dropping up to fifty points when trading gets underway to follow a 138 point decline yesterday to 5,922.
US markets fared far worse with the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumping 295 points to 16,154 as oil companies sank under the pressure of weak crude prices.
The price per barrel is back under US$30 per barrel and traders were braced for another bumper set of US stock numbers to send it even lower.
BP and ExxonMobil fell heavily offsetting rises for Google as it became the world’s largest company in market value terms.
Asian markets fared even worse than the US, with declines of more than 3% in Tokyo, 2.6% in Hong Kong and 0.8% in Shanghai.
Fears that Asian economic growth is slowing are behind the recent weakness and especially China, where the Shanghai market has shed 50% of its value in a little over six months.
GlaxoSmithKline leads the companies reporting today with possibility of it being carved-up firmly in the minds of investors.
The maker of drugs, toothpaste, Ribena and Horlicks has been a frequent name in the rumour mill in recent weeks including stories that Johnson & Johnson were interested.
“There has been much talk of a GSK break-up in recent months following a lacklustre strategy day in November,” Liberum Capital analyst Naresh Chouhan said.
Water utility Severn Trent, platinum specialist Johnson Matthey and wealth manager Hargreaves Lansdown also give trading updates.