London close: FTSE ended marginally lower as Scotland, Fed, Ukraine, China weigh

The top tier index ended Monday's session marginally lower as strong gains by SABMiller helped to partially offset concerns about geopolitical tensions, the Scottish referendum, the latest Fed meeting and weak data from China.Ultimately, the FTSE closed 2.75 pionts lower at 6,804.21."Trading in Europe has been mixed today with mergers and acquisitions speculation amongst brewers mixing in with fears over a slowdown in China which added to a general uncertainty heading into the Scottish referendum and this month’s Fed meeting," CMC Markets UK Market Analyst Jasper Lawler said.Also in focus is Tuesday's UK CPI numbers, which Lawler believes can prompt the index to travel only so far ahead of the Scottish vote.The inflation data is expected to show prices eased in August, with forecasts predicting that consumer prices may have risen by 1.5% year-on-year, compared to 1.6% a month earlier, moving further away from the Bank of England’s (BoE) 2% target.Risk appetite was dampended on Monday after a spate of data out from China's statistics bureau over the weekend came in below economists' forecasts, adding to worries about a slowown in the world's second-largest economy. In particular, the annual rate of industrial production growth eased from 9% to 6.9% in August, while fixed asset investment growth slowed from 17% to 16.5%.Tensions in eastern Ukraine were also weighing on stocks as fighting continued despite a ceasefire agreed by leaders. Northern Donetsk was the centre of the violence over the weekend, with at least six people killed, according to reports.US industrial production falls 0.1% in AugustUS industrial production fell 0.1% month-on-month in August, the first decline in four months.The decline went against expectations for 0.3% growth and followed the previous month's 0.2% increase, but analysts said it represents a “blip in a solid underlying trend”.SABMiller jumps on takeover speculationSABMiller jumped on the back of speculation that fellow drinks giant Anheuser-Busch Inbev was lining up financing for a possible £75bn bid. At current prices, SABMiller is valued at around £61.5bn.The rumours come after Dutch brewer Heineken turned down an approach from SABMiller. The Heineken family, which owns around half of the company, said that it wants to "preserve the heritage and identity of Heineken as an independent company".TUI Travel was higher after the group announced the terms of its all-share merger with holding company TUI AG.UK software group Micro Focus International jumped on the news it is to merge with The Attachmate Group in a $2.4bn deal which "presents a rare opportunity to achieve a significant increase in the scale and breadth" of the business. The company also assured investors that its previously announced 60p-a-share (£84m) cash return will go ahead and is not conditional on the merger.Also higher was Dixons Carphone, which according to Investec could benefit from the collapse of UK high street chain Phones 4U. The broker repeated its 'buy' recommendation for the electrical goods and mobile-phone retailer.Meanwhile, Ocado shares were knocked lower after the Sunday Telegraph's Questor column recommended shareholders dispose of their stock, saying that its concept of creating a dominant online supermarket is attractive but it doesn't seem to be working. There is way too much risk and investors should sell, Questor said.Market MoverstechMARK 2,844.94 -0.12%FTSE 100 6,804.21 -0.04%FTSE 250 15,649.23 -0.40%FTSE 100 - RisersSABMiller (SAB) 3,740.00p +9.82%Pearson (PSON) 1,206.00p +2.38%Diageo (DGE) 1,853.00p +2.23%TUI Travel (TT.) 365.70p +1.56%Bunzl (BNZL) 1,625.00p +1.06%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,966.00p +1.03%United Utilities Group (UU.) 857.50p +1.00%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,235.00p +0.94%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,371.00p +0.94%Mondi (MNDI) 1,072.00p +0.85%FTSE 100 - FallersSports Direct International (SPD) 690.00p -3.16%easyJet (EZJ) 1,360.00p -2.51%Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,040.00p -2.35%CRH (CRH) 1,449.00p -2.23%BG Group (BG.) 1,153.50p -2.12%GKN (GKN) 340.50p -2.10%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 987.50p -1.74%ARM Holdings (ARM) 938.00p -1.73%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 73.54p -1.39%Persimmon (PSN) 1,350.00p -1.39%FTSE 250 - RisersMicro Focus International (MCRO) 971.50p +15.31%Evraz (EVR) 122.90p +4.24%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 166.30p +2.97%Infinis Energy (INFI) 216.20p +2.95%Soco International (SIA) 422.00p +2.68%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 730.50p +2.60%Dixons Carphone (DC.) 379.90p +2.07%Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 663.00p +1.77%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 198.40p +1.74%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 229.70p +1.55%FTSE 250 - FallersOcado Group (OCDO) 284.70p -7.14%NMC Health (NMC) 460.00p -3.97%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 130.00p -3.70%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 405.00p -3.16%Ladbrokes (LAD) 125.70p -3.16%Serco Group (SRP) 305.90p -3.13%PayPoint (PAY) 1,017.00p -3.05%Aveva Group (AVV) 1,577.00p -2.65%Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,327.00p -2.35%Hays (HAS) 125.40p -2.34%