- Stocks jump into the blue late on- China records worse-than-expected trade deficit- Resource stocks fall on Chinese demand concernsLondon's blue chip index managed to finish the day in positive territory despite swinging between gains and losses for most of the session. Concerns over the global economy weighed on sentiment today with China reporting its first monthly trade deficit in over two decades and the Eurogroup meeting in Brussels.Banks and resource stocks led the fallers on the Footsie on Monday, while defensives picked up the slack. The benchmark closed near its intraday high, but had traded within a narrow range of just 31 points during the day.Chinese trade figures revealed a deficit of $31.5bn in February with imports exceeding exports by more than expected. This compares with a surplus of $27.3bn in January, meaning that the nation was in a net deficit in the first two months which will undoubtedly lead to some increasing their bets on the country introducing new policy easing measures.Meanwhile in Europe, Eurozone finance ministers are meeting in Brussels later today to finally sign off on the €130bn bailout for Greece. Belgian newspaper De Morgen cited German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble as saying over the weekend: "nobody can now exclude that Greece at a single moment may need a third bailout." Nevertheless, he said that he has confidence that the measures being taken will "bring the country on the road to recovery." Greece's Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos has said today: "as you know, the Private Sector Involvement for the restructuring and the sustainability of the Greek public debt was a success story. Until now, the participation is at 96%. Now we are waiting for the response of the market to the extension of our offer for the last 4% of holders of Greek bonds of foreign law."MORRISONS RISES, BANKS & RESOURCES TAKE A HITMorrisons led the risers on the FTSE 100 as investors pin their hopes for the stock on a series of new concepts being unveiled today at the supermarket chain's investor meeting. Retailing peers Kingfisher and Next were also in demand.Banking giant Royal Bank of Scotland was one of the worst performers of the day, weighed down by reports that former Chief Executive Fred Goodwin and ex-Chairman Tom McKillop have been sued by a group of investors in relation to the time prior to the bank's government bailout. Sector peers Barclays and Lloyds were also out of favour. The miners and oil producers were also sold off after the worse-than-expected Chinese data fuelled demand concerns for commodities. Vedanta Resources, Essar Energy, Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Tullow Oil were all in the red.Man Group was a heavy faller after HBSC downgraded the stock from overweight to neutral, citing "higher distribution costs and taxes". The target price was also cut, from 150p to 140p. Meanwhile, cruise operator Carnival rose after being upgraded by Exane BNP Paribas from underperform to outperform. Engineering and project management firm AMEC was also doing well after Societe Generale raised its rating from hold to buy.Commodities producer and marketer Glencore International edged higher on rumours that it is considering a £3.5bn bid for Canadian grain firm Viterra. The Sunday Telegraph said that the firm is attempting to bolster its agricultural business in North America. Shares in GKN were off the mark on rumours that the group is considering a £800m takeover of Swedish aerospace group Volvo Aero. Investec said that the deal would be a "good fit" and would help GKN better balance itself away from Automotive and into a higher margin business. COMPUTACENTER LEADS THE RISE ON THE FTSE 250Computacenter was in the top spot ahead of its results due out tomorrow, which are set to show the sixth consecutive year of double digit adjusted earnings per share (EPS) growth and adjusted profit before tax for full year 2011, in line with the board's expectations. Defence group Cobham rose late on after saying that it has decided to withdraw its proposal to make an offer for Thrane & Thrane after 12 months of discussions.The merger discussions between financial software developers Misys and Temenos Group have been terminated, sending Misys near the bottom of the pile. Misys remains in talks with its other suitors regarding a potential takeover. BCFTSE 100 - RisersMorrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 301.60p +2.31%British Land Co (BLND) 496.30p +1.97%Unilever (ULVR) 2,107.00p +1.94%Kingfisher (KGF) 286.80p +1.63%Land Securities Group (LAND) 728.00p +1.61%Hammerson (HMSO) 423.90p +1.51%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 163.20p +1.49%Carnival (CCL) 1,947.00p +1.46%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,555.00p +1.44%Pearson (PSON) 1,219.00p +1.33%FTSE 100 - FallersVedanta Resources (VED) 1,369.00p -3.66%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 25.37p -3.17%Essar Energy (ESSR) 108.30p -2.43%Barclays (BARC) 235.85p -2.01%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 33.67p -1.98%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,450.50p -1.67%Man Group (EMG) 137.50p -1.65%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 823.50p -1.38%Aviva (AV.) 356.50p -1.36%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,941.00p -1.22%FTSE 250 - RisersComputacenter (CCC) 410.00p +11.29%Cobham (COB) 220.60p +4.80%Bumi (BUMI) 784.00p +4.60%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 85.00p +4.36%Homeserve (HSV) 229.90p +4.31%Supergroup (SGP) 616.50p +3.79%Carillion (CLLN) 315.10p +3.28%Ocado Group (OCDO) 108.80p +3.13%Petropavlovsk (POG) 672.00p +3.07%Bellway (BWY) 826.00p +3.06%FTSE 250 - FallersKenmare Resources (KMR) 51.75p -3.99%Misys (MSY) 328.00p -3.81%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 162.10p -3.51%Premier Farnell (PFL) 210.60p -2.59%Michael Page International (MPI) 477.30p -2.59%Carpetright (CPR) 605.50p -2.42%Inmarsat (ISAT) 477.90p -2.31%Regus (RGU) 108.80p -2.07%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 476.70p -1.71%Spirent Communications (SPT) 153.90p -1.66%
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