London close: FTSE ends little changed after turbulent day

After sliding early on, the FTSE surfed some choppy waves before climbing in the final two hours of trade to end little changed, down just 2.79 points at 6,646.60."Stocks suffered another setback today with investors concerned over the uncertainty and possible repercussions of demonstrations in Hong Kong and FX intervention from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand," explained CMC market analyst Jasper Lawler."Hong Kong stocks as well as the HKD saw substantial losses after police used brutal force including tear-gas and pepper spray to quell demonstrations in the city centre. Many shops and banks are closed while the demonstrations remain which won't help Hong Kong's deteriorating retail sales."The protestors gathered in Hong Kong to rally against changes to the political system that allow direct elections, but only from a pool of candidates approved by Beijing."Protestors in Hong Kong are clearly aiming for the kind of representative elections that can be found in the UK which offers a choice between two Eton graduates," Lawler added.In other news, the Eurozone sentiment index dropped to -11.4 from -10 in August, as expected by analysts, according to the European Commission.The indicator dropped by 0.7 points to 99.9, just below the consensus estimate for a reading of 100.Looking further afield, data from the States showed that the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) index of US pending home sales (PHI) fell 1% month-on-month in August to 104.7. The consensus estimate was for a drop of 0.5%.Petrofac leads risers In company news, Credit Suisse drove Petrofac shares higher after upgrading the stock from 'neutral' to 'outperform', target 1,340p.Meanwhile, Standard Chartered and HSBC Holdings led the downside amid tense protests in Hong Kong as citizens react to controversial reforms that will allow direct elections, but only from a pool of candidates approved by Beijing.Westhouse Securities pushed Pearson into the red after starting its coverage with a 'sell' rating and a target price of 1,001p.Emerging markets focused asset manager Aberdeen was also in the red after Canaccord Genuity reiterated its 'hold' on stock and cut its target price from 460p to 430p. The reduction came after it saw its assets under management (AuM) rise by 3% in the two months to 31 August.WM Morrison led the supermarkets lower after their rival and discount retailer Aldi delivered an impressive set of 2013 results.It came as the Financial Conduct Authority revealed a former executive at Morrison has been charged with insider dealing related to trading in Ocado shares between February and May 2013.On the second tier, Balfour Beatty tumbled after it said its 2014 fiscal year results would be hurt by a profit shortfall of about £75m in its UK construction services division.Market MoverstechMARK 2,818.41 +0.28%FTSE 100 6,646.60 -0.04%FTSE 250 15,390.07 +0.04%FTSE 100 - RisersPetrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,039.00p +2.87%Compass Group (CPG) 984.00p +2.39%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,281.00p +2.23%Sports Direct International (SPD) 634.00p +2.18%BG Group (BG.) 1,145.50p +1.60%Reed Elsevier (REL) 994.50p +1.48%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 937.50p +1.46%Capita (CPI) 1,169.00p +1.39%Persimmon (PSN) 1,343.00p +1.36%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,687.00p +1.32%FTSE 100 - FallersHSBC Holdings (HSBA) 635.00p -2.34%Tesco (TSCO) 187.80p -1.96%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,155.50p -1.62%Anglo American (AAL) 1,384.00p -1.60%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 415.40p -1.49%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,051.00p -1.26%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 247.30p -1.12%Experian (EXPN) 986.00p -0.90%easyJet (EZJ) 1,381.00p -0.86%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,420.50p -0.84%FTSE 250 - RisersMicro Focus International (MCRO) 1,078.00p +4.56%Polymetal International (POLY) 497.20p +4.13%EnQuest (ENQ) 109.80p +3.68%Playtech (PTEC) 731.50p +2.16%AO World (AO.) 192.00p +2.02%Pace (PIC) 300.00p +2.01%Elementis (ELM) 255.90p +1.95%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 121.50p +1.93%AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 1,089.00p +1.87%Rank Group (RNK) 164.10p +1.86%FTSE 250 - FallersBalfour Beatty (BBY) 190.50p -15.30%Just Retirement Group (JRG) 128.00p -6.57%De La Rue (DLAR) 474.90p -5.77%COLT Group SA (COLT) 134.00p -4.08%Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 297.60p -3.16%Carillion (CLLN) 302.20p -3.02%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 262.50p -2.78%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 115.10p -2.71%Infinis Energy (INFI) 219.00p -2.45%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 58.05p -2.44%Market MoverstechMARK 2,818.41 +0.28%FTSE 100 6,646.60 -0.04%FTSE 250 15,390.07 +0.04%FTSE 100 - RisersPetrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,039.00p +2.87%Compass Group (CPG) 984.00p +2.39%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,281.00p +2.23%Sports Direct International (SPD) 634.00p +2.18%BG Group (BG.) 1,145.50p +1.60%Reed Elsevier (REL) 994.50p +1.48%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 937.50p +1.46%Capita (CPI) 1,169.00p +1.39%Persimmon (PSN) 1,343.00p +1.36%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,687.00p +1.32%FTSE 100 - FallersHSBC Holdings (HSBA) 635.00p -2.34%Tesco (TSCO) 187.80p -1.96%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,155.50p -1.62%Anglo American (AAL) 1,384.00p -1.60%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 415.40p -1.49%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,051.00p -1.26%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 247.30p -1.12%Experian (EXPN) 986.00p -0.90%easyJet (EZJ) 1,381.00p -0.86%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,420.50p -0.84%FTSE 250 - RisersMicro Focus International (MCRO) 1,078.00p +4.56%Polymetal International (POLY) 497.20p +4.13%EnQuest (ENQ) 109.80p +3.68%Playtech (PTEC) 731.50p +2.16%AO World (AO.) 192.00p +2.02%Pace (PIC) 300.00p +2.01%Elementis (ELM) 255.90p +1.95%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 121.50p +1.93%AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 1,089.00p +1.87%Rank Group (RNK) 164.10p +1.86%FTSE 250 - FallersBalfour Beatty (BBY) 190.50p -15.30%Just Retirement Group (JRG) 128.00p -6.57%De La Rue (DLAR) 474.90p -5.77%COLT Group SA (COLT) 134.00p -4.08%Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 297.60p -3.16%Carillion (CLLN) 302.20p -3.02%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 262.50p -2.78%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 115.10p -2.71%Infinis Energy (INFI) 219.00p -2.45%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 58.05p -2.44%FTSE TechMARK - RisersTriad Group (TRD) 12.25p +4.26%Vectura Group (VEC) 133.75p +2.69%Dialight (DIA) 867.00p +2.60%RM (RM.) 156.00p +1.30%SDL (SDL) 350.00p +1.16%Skyepharma (SKP) 316.00p +0.96%Phoenix IT Group (PNX) 113.50p +0.89%Innovation Group (TIG) 28.75p +0.88%Ricardo (RCDO) 666.50p +0.83%Promethean World (PRW) 31.00p +0.81%FTSE TechMARK - FallersNCC Group (NCC) 196.25p -1.63%Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 3.80p -1.30%E2V Technologies (E2V) 162.00p -1.22%CML Microsystems (CML) 310.00p -0.80%Anite (AIE) 87.50p -0.57%KCOM Group (KCOM) 96.25p -0.52%XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,525.00p -0.33%IShares Euro Gov Bond 7-10YR UCITS ETF (IEGM) € 197.00 -0.05%