London close: 'Ill wind' blows in from across the Atlantic

Markets have ended firmly lower on the day, in reaction to mixed economic data out Stateside and despite strong economic data in China. As well, company-specific news weighed on index heavy-weights Vodafone and RBS. All of the above came on the back of a nervous atmosphere ahead of central bank meetings tomorrow and US employment data on Friday. Both the Bank of England and European Central Bank (ECB) are due to release their monetary policy decisions on Thursday afternoon. While both parties are expected to stand pat, investors will be watching the press conference with ECB President Mario Draghi closely for any hints of a rate cut some time in the future. An 'ill wind' blew in from across the Atlantic, with US non-manufacturing numbers from the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) of 54.4 in March, below the consensus forecast and modestly below the index's six-month average of 55.2. There were notable declines in the employment component as well as new orders. There was a general boost for industry in the UK as oil price forecasts were trimmed, with Barclays snipping its predictions from an average $125 per barrel for 2013 to $112 and for West Texas Intermediate from $108 to $95 a barrel. Retailers also received a filip from news that non-food prices climbed for the first time in 15 months, advancing 0.2% in March compared to a 0.4% decline the previous month. Eurozone consumer inflation data out earlier in the day also came in slightly ahead of forecasts. Britain's construction output contracted in March for the third month in a row, according to Markit/CIPS Construction PMI on Wednesday.Acting as a backdrop, Martin Wolf called attention in today's Financial Times to the likely slowdown which we will witness in Chinese economic growth. As well, some market commentary chose to highlight some differences of opinion which emerged overnight, albeit between just two Fed policymakers' speeches, with one showing clear support for further quantitative easing and the other being opposed. Overnight, the expansion in China's services sector picked up the pace in March, according to data published this morning. The government non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) showed a rise to 55.6 from February's 54.5 reading. Meanwhile, the services PMI published separately by HSBC jumped to its highest level since last May, rising to 54.3 from the prior 52.1.FTSE 100: Ex-div stocks and miners provide a drag, Vedanta bucks the trendShares in Royal Bank of Scotland suffered badly after a second shareholder group filed legal proceedings against the bank and four former directors. Coming weeks after another class action suit, a group representing dozens of institutions and thousands of private shareholders launched a compensation claim for up to £4bn resulting from "misrepresentations" made during the bank's £12bn rights issue in 2008. Vodafone's speculative takeover bubble was burst as Verizon Communication dismissed reports it has teamed up with AT&T on a break-up bid for the UK operator. The two US telecoms groups were said to be considering a $245bn bid, according to FT Alphaville.Wood Group, the energy services giant, was top riser on news it had secured a contract with CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Company (CSPC) in China. The $1.6m contract is for new parts for a gas turbine in China, and builds on the group's existing relationship with CSPC.Standard Life shares were the biggest losers on the day as the ex-dividend date slipped by, with investors now unable to get their hands on the insurer's bumper final and special payout for 2012. Hammerson, Pearson and RSA Insurance were other ex-div stocks that tracked lower over the day. Mining stocks were in negative territory as metals prices slipped, with EVRAZ, ENRC, Fresnillo, Rio Tinto, Randgold, Polymetal and Anglo American numbered the majority of the remaining worst performers. Credit Suisse also put a dampener on share prices in the sector today after cutting target prices for several stocks. The broker said: "Despite more restrained spending, 2013/14 will be a period of price discovery, as markets move into surplus and the sector lives through the over-spend of prior years. We see downside risk to prices in H213 and this remains a challenging investment backdrop in the short run." Vedanta however made impressive gains as investors welcomed the decision by India to grant the company an appeal over the closure of its copper smelter in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu. ARM Holdings, the tech firm that designs chips for mobile gadgets, edged higher after The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple could begin producing a new iPhone this quarter but ended the day largely flat. After a strong morning, asset manager Schroders gave up most of its gains but still closed higher on a note from Credit Suisse said that fund flow data for the UK mutual fund market showed equity inflows accelerating in February to their highest level in almost two years.FTSE 100 - RisersWood Group (John) (WG.) 879.50p +1.74%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,009.00p +1.71%IMI (IMI) 1,301.00p +1.48%Schroders (SDR) 2,165.00p +1.41%GKN (GKN) 269.40p +1.01%Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,451.00p +0.79%National Grid (NG.) 783.00p +0.64%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 4,774.00p +0.59%Serco Group (SRP) 635.50p +0.55%Centrica (CNA) 375.60p +0.48%FTSE 100 - FallersStandard Life (SL.) 346.40p -6.45%Evraz (EVR) 203.50p -6.00%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 111.40p -5.43%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 224.60p -4.55%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 271.10p -4.44%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,306.00p -4.39%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,375.00p -3.85%Glencore International (GLEN) 347.00p -3.56%Xstrata (XTA) 1,045.00p -3.51%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,282.00p -3.25%FTSE 250 - RisersSupergroup (SGP) 644.00p +6.36%SDL (SDL) 408.90p +4.85%Ashtead Group (AHT) 635.00p +4.27%Pennon Group (PNN) 650.50p +4.08%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,703.00p +2.22%Pace (PIC) 246.20p +2.12%Man Group (EMG) 90.25p +1.92%Senior (SNR) 250.80p +1.83%Sports Direct International (SPD) 428.50p +1.78%Cairn Energy (CNE) 275.70p +1.77%FTSE 250 - FallersCentamin (DI) (CEY) 45.62p -8.12%Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 571.00p -7.83%Ocado Group (OCDO) 148.30p -6.96%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 27.13p -6.45%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 216.20p -5.22%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 350.70p -5.09%Petropavlovsk (POG) 194.60p -5.03%NMC Health (NMC) 312.50p -4.73%Interserve (IRV) 489.30p -4.15%Rank Group (RNK) 158.50p -3.94%FTSE TechMARK - RisersSkyepharma (SKP) 48.50p +3.19%Consort Medical (CSRT) 797.00p +2.11%Puricore (PURI) 44.50p +1.14%Phoenix IT Group (PNX) 143.50p +1.06%Emblaze Ltd. (BLZ) 59.50p +0.85%Parity Group (PTY) 31.50p +0.80%BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 18.88p +0.67%CML Microsystems (CML) 413.00p +0.36%Optos (OPTS) 150.00p +0.33%Innovation Group (TIG) 25.25p 0.00%FTSE TechMARK - FallersE2V Technologies (E2V) 117.00p -2.09%XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,245.50p -1.93%Promethean World (PRW) 15.75p -1.56%NCC Group (NCC) 138.00p -1.43%Torotrak (TRK) 29.12p -1.27%Kofax (KFX) 315.00p -1.25%RM (RM.) 76.12p -1.14%Microgen (MCGN) 118.00p -0.84%Vectura Group (VEC) 89.25p -0.83%Ricardo (RCDO) 413.75p -0.78%OH