London close: FTSE ends flat after data-heavy session

- Flat finish after mixed session- US jobless claims fall- UK car manufacturing grows- Johnson Matthey charges highertechMARK 2,636.63 +0.40%FTSE 100 6,681.33 0.00%FTSE 250 15,148.50 -0.20%UK stocks ended the day broadly flat after a mixed bag of data left investors lacking in any firm direction. The gains were led by Johnson Matthey, while mining stocks weighed heavily, giving an overall finish of just 0.25 points higher. Over in the US, stocks were in positive territory after jobless claims fell to their lowest level since September, down by 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 323,000 for the week ended November 16th. Investors also cheered news that the US Senate's Banking Committee had chosen to back Yellen's candidacy to Fed Chairwoman.Also very much worth pointing out, market experts seem to continue to be quite sceptical that the Fed could move to start tapering come next December or even January. UK tax figures signal housing boom, UK car manufacturing grows The latest UK tax figures have signalled a housing boom with stamp duty revenues at the same level they were just before the economic crisis in 2008.Homebuyers in October paid £852m in stamp duty to the Exchequer, up from the £830m-a-month at the peak of the housing boom in 2007/08, according to figures from HM Revenue & Customs. Property market activity in central London was largely responsible for increase in stamp duty revenues.The Confederation of British Industry reported a surprise jump in factory orders for November to their highest level since March 1995. The balance climbed to +11 compared to -4 in October, compared to expectations of 0. "Encouragingly, the purchasing managers reported higher demand in October from Asia, the USA, mainland Europe, Ireland, the Middle-East and Russia. Admittedly, sterling hit a nine-month high on a trade-weighted basis in October, but it is not at a damaging level for exporters," said Dr. Howard Archer, Chief UK+Europe Economist at IHS Global Insight. Johnson Matthey tops leaders after results impressShares in speciality chemicals company Johnson Matthey leapt to the top of the leaderboard after it reported a robust set of half-year results, powered by a strong performance in Emission Control Technologies ahead of new European legislation and good demand for Process Technologies' products.Housebuilder Persimmon gained on the back of the latest UK tax figures which have signalled a housing boom with stamp duty revenues at the same level they were just before the economic crisis in 2008. Meanwhile, the downside was being led by miners, as investors digested the minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting, and a slowdown in Chinese PMI. Antofagasta fell after a downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy' by UBS. Adding to woes, metal prices were broadly lower. Cigarette companies BATS and Imperial Tobacco were lower after US sector peer Philip Morris International warned the industry could suffer an overall 2-3% decline in 2014. FTSE 100 - RisersJohnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,210.00p +3.75%Persimmon (PSN) 1,197.00p +2.92%AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,400.50p +2.78%easyJet (EZJ) 1,413.00p +2.61%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 104.50p +2.25%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 214.20p +2.00%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 360.00p +1.98%Barclays (BARC) 257.10p +1.78%Centrica (CNA) 343.00p +1.66%G4S (GFS) 264.50p +1.65%FTSE 100 - FallersFresnillo (FRES) 863.50p -4.53%Vedanta Resources (VED) 923.00p -2.94%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,365.00p -2.89%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,367.00p -2.59%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,281.00p -2.35%Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,286.00p -2.22%Rexam (REX) 486.90p -1.68%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,246.50p -1.62%Experian (EXPN) 1,162.00p -1.53%Anglo American (AAL) 1,384.50p -1.42%FTSE 250 - RisersQinetiQ Group (QQ.) 211.00p +7.27%Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,915.00p +6.09%Partnership Assurance Group (PA.) 317.00p +3.59%Bellway (BWY) 1,453.00p +3.12%Bodycote (BOY) 620.00p +2.99%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 335.10p +2.95%National Express Group (NEX) 257.00p +2.92%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 384.20p +2.45%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 333.30p +2.40%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 154.30p +2.12%FTSE 250 - FallersAfrican Barrick Gold (ABG) 167.90p -7.24%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 244.20p -6.79%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 44.32p -5.16%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 127.80p -4.84%Evraz (EVR) 108.40p -4.41%Devro (DVO) 294.40p -4.14%Lonmin (LMI) 311.00p -4.10%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 124.70p -4.08%Polymetal International (POLY) 520.00p -3.88%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 172.40p -3.53%FTSE TechMARK - RisersDRS Data & Research Services (DRS) 24.00p +3.23%RM (RM.) 111.12p +2.89%Torotrak (TRK) 24.62p +2.60%Kofax (KFX) 375.50p +2.04%Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF) 142.50p +1.06%Microgen (MCGN) 125.00p +0.40%Anite (AIE) 87.25p +0.29%Vectura Group (VEC) 102.25p +0.25%Optos (OPTS) 157.25p +0.16%FTSE TechMARK - FallersOxford Biomedica (OXB) 2.38p -8.65%Gresham Computing (GHT) 124.00p -5.52%Promethean World (PRW) 19.00p -3.80%Filtronic (FTC) 61.25p -2.20%Phoenix IT Group (PNX) 141.00p -2.08%Puricore (PURI) 49.00p -2.00%NCC Group (NCC) 175.00p -1.96%Vislink (VLK) 47.00p -1.57%Ricardo (RCDO) 590.50p -1.50%BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 17.50p -1.41%NR