London close: Footsie falls back below 5,500

Despite a strong rise before on the back of some better-than-expected manufacturing data from the US, London's benchmark index pulled back to finish close to its lowest levels of the day. Nevertheless, after yesterday's eye-watering rally which saw benchmark indices across the globe jump between 3-5%, the Footsie is still 7% higher than where it was last week.In the US, the ISM manufacturing index for the month of November rose to 52.7 from the previous month's reading of 50.8 (Consensus: 52.0). The news sent the FTSE 100 rocketing to an intraday high of 5,554. However, the latest numbers from the US Labor Department showed that initial jobless claims rose more than anticipated to 402,000 (consensus: 390,000).French and Spanish bond auctions lifted sentiment, despite rising yields in Spain. Buyer interest appears to have been quite solid in fact (at least by recent standards); even if only after yesterday's concerted actions by central banks worldwide. Spain sold €3.75bn of government bonds in mid- to long-term debt, while France sold €4.35bn in mid- to long-term debt. All eyes will be turning to the 9 December European Union summit, after economic affairs commissioner Olli Rehn warned that European leaders have only 10 days left to save the euro. MANUFACTURING DATA DISAPPOINTSUK manufacturing output fell for the second month in a row in November, reaching its lowest levels since June 2009. The Markit/CIPS manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 47.6 last month, down from an upwardly revised figure of 47.8 in October (47.4 previously). Any figure below 50 represents a contraction. Manufacturing activity in the Eurozone fell to levels not seen in 28 months in November, while job losses were reported in 15 out of the 17 nations using the single currency. According to Markit, the manufacturing PMI for the region fell to 46.4 compared to 47.1 in the previous month. This is the lowest reading since July 2009 and the fourth consecutive reading below 50. Meanwhile, the China Federation of Logistics & Planning's PMI declined from 50.4 to 49.0 in November, under a 49.7 estimate from a Dow Jones survey. This was the first contraction since March 2009. The HSBC manufacturing activity index also fell below 50 to 47.7, from 51 the month before. RESOLUTION, BURBERRY LEAD THE RISERSIn company news, Resolution led the risers, extending gains from yesterday when the High Court approved its scheme to transfer certain parts of its businesses to Friends Provident Life and Pensions Limited, the main UK life assurance company owned by the company's subsidiary, Friends Life Group. Iconic British luxury brand Burberry was the second-best performer of the day. The stock, often sensitive to changes in the outlook for the Chinese economy, gained over 6% yesterday after the People's Bank of China announced plans to lower the legal reserve requirement for Chinese banks. China, a high-growth market for Burberry, has been the source of much concern for investors recently on worries of a slowdown in economic growth. In other news, the firm's chief executive Angela Ahrendts has been cited in French financial newspaper Les Echos today as saying that Burberry is planning to open more stores in Paris. Kingfisher rose after the group delivered a third quarter retail profit of £273m, up from £240m last year and £10m ahead of Investec's (and consensus) expectations. However, the broker notes a "surprising" fall in profits in Poland. The broker has reiterated its hold rating given the "undemanding valuation metrics". Engineers were providing a drag today, with IMI and GKN among the worst performers. GKN investors seemed disappointed after the firm offloaded its Aerospace Engineering Services Business in the UK and Australia to QuEST Global Services and QuEST Global Engineering for an undisclosed sum. Banks also fell following yesterday's strong gains, with Lloyds, RBS and Barclays near the top of the fallers list. The banking sector on the whole remains nearly 9% higher on the week.RETAILERS SOLD OFFThe retail sector finished in the red today, not helped by a gloomy report by Investec in which analysts reiterated their underweight stance on the sector. "The combination of very weak consumer confidence and unseasonably warm weather has resulted in a plethora of negative LFL sales reports from retailers, and some of the earliest Christmas profit warnings we can remember," they said.After making forecast reductions on almost half of its coverage universe, the broker downgraded Marks & Spencer, Debenhams and Game from buy to hold, and cuts its rating for KESA Electricals, Mothercare and Howden Joinery from hold to sell. Game was the only stock out of those six to post a gain today.BCFTSE 100 - RisersResolution Ltd. (RSL) 244.70p +3.86%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,308.00p +2.99%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 151.60p +2.78%Kingfisher (KGF) 261.30p +2.23%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,966.00p +2.18%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,407.00p +1.66%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,741.00p +1.58%Amec (AMEC) 882.00p +1.55%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,310.00p +0.96%British Land Co (BLND) 499.70p +0.89%FTSE 100 - FallersIMI (IMI) 759.00p -4.89%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 24.00p -3.32%ICAP (IAP) 344.30p -3.10%Lonmin (LMI) 1,037.00p -3.08%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 20.55p -2.10%Inmarsat (ISAT) 427.90p -2.06%Cairn Energy (CNE) 267.00p -1.95%GKN (GKN) 190.80p -1.90%Barclays (BARC) 177.15p -1.72%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 324.80p -1.64%FTSE 250 - RisersSupergroup (SGP) 492.00p +6.82%RPC Group (RPC) 353.00p +4.97%International Personal Finance (IPF) 205.00p +4.06%Diploma (DPLM) 345.40p +3.60%Bellway (BWY) 754.50p +3.50%Yule Catto & Co (YULC) 175.00p +2.88%Regus (RGU) 91.45p +2.35%Ashtead Group (AHT) 188.20p +2.01%JPMorgan Asian Inv Trust (JAI) 188.10p +1.95%Cranswick (CWK) 735.50p +1.59%FTSE 250 - FallersThomas Cook Group (TCG) 16.69p -8.75%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 648.50p -6.82%Allied Gold Mining (ALD) 187.20p -6.77%Logica (LOG) 75.15p -6.41%Premier Foods (PFD) 5.50p -6.31%Northgate (NTG) 227.80p -5.79%Laird (LRD) 148.20p -5.54%Galliford Try (GFRD) 476.00p -5.37%Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 262.20p -5.34%Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 189.40p -5.30%