London close: US data halts rally late on

- Gains pared after US housing data- Markets shrug off UK GDP, rise on Nowotny comments- ARM surges after Q2 results; Tullow disappoints in H1Markets seemed to shrug off disappointing UK economic growth data this morning as they warmed to comments from a European Central Bank (ECB) policy-maker; however, gloomy home-sales data from the US dampened stocks in the afternoon meaning that the Footsie finished in the red for the fourth day in a row.UK gross domestic product (GDP) figures released by the Office for National Statistics today showed the British economy contracted by 0.7% in the three months to the end of June, following on from a 0.3% fall in the first quarter and a 0.4% decline in the fourth quarter of 2011. Economists had pencilled in decline in GDP of just 0.2%. Nevertheless, stocks were making gains across Europe earlier on after ECB member Ewald Nowotny suggested granting a banking licence to the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the permanent bailout fund for the Eurozone. A banking license would grant the ESM access to ECB funding which would then serve to increase the bailout fund's firepower. This would help calm markets since it has often been commented that the current €500bn in funds would be insufficient to save the likes of Spain or Italy.However, gains were pared late on after the Commerce Department said that sales of new homes in the US fell by 8.4% in June, following a two-year high in May. Sales fell to an annualised rate of 350,000 in the month, below the 372,000 forecast.FTSE 100: ARM and Tullow provide some big moves on the FootsieChip designer ARM Holdings surged after second-quarter sales and profits came in 4% and 5% ahead of consensus estimates, respectively. Peel Hunt analyst Paul Morland said this morning that the stock's valuation "now looks like a relatively normal tech rating for a stock is that is not normal and represents an excellent opportunity to buy into this long term, global, cash generative, well managed, secular growth story."Outsourcing behemoth Capita advanced after saying it is confident of growing revenue this year and beyond as it takes advantage of a buoyant outsourcing market in the UK public sector. Revenue in the first half was up 15%. Meanwhile, Tullow Oil dropped despite hailing an "excellent" first half. Revenues grew by 10% on the back of increased sales volumes, average production and sustained high oil prices. Pre-tax profits surged by 48% but growth was held back by increased exploration write-offs and higher costs. Telecoms titan BT fell after saying that while underlying earnings grew in the first quarter, its corporate customer-focused Global Services unit having a tough time of it in Europe and London's financial district. Cigarette giant British American Tobacco disappointed after saying that currency headwinds in key markets saw reported revenues hold steady in the first half. Shares in speciality chemicals group Johnson Matthey slipped after the firm reported weakness in its precious metals division as a result of lower commodity prices.Utilities group SSE was a heavy faller after going ex-dividend; from today onwards, investors will not have the right to the group's latest dividend payment. FTSE 250: Renishaw lead the risers; Drax plummetsPrecision tool maker Renishaw jumped after posting a 7% increase in annual pre-tax profit, boosted by strong demand across all its markets for its precision measuring products. Meanwhile, shares in Drax, which converts coal and biomass to energy, sank after the government's proposals for biomass subsidies disappointed. Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk surged after maintaining its production targets for the full year and reported progress in its exploration work. Attributable production across its five mines for the second quarter was up 10% on last year.??FTSE 100 - RisersARM Holdings (ARM) 526.50p +8.60%Capita (CPI) 713.50p +5.31%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 203.40p +3.46%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,575.00p +2.95%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 109.70p +2.24%WPP (WPP) 807.00p +2.09%Reed Elsevier (REL) 516.50p +2.08%Polymetal International (POLY) 811.50p +2.08%Land Securities Group (LAND) 780.00p +2.03%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 252.70p +2.02%FTSE 100 - FallersTullow Oil (TLW) 1,284.00p -6.28%SSE (SSE) 1,294.00p -5.13%BT Group (BT.A) 210.20p -3.31%Evraz (EVR) 211.50p -1.86%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,405.00p -1.80%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,081.00p -1.65%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 829.50p -1.43%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,426.50p -1.31%BG Group (BG.) 1,220.00p -1.29%IMI (IMI) 776.00p -1.27%FTSE 250 - RisersRenishaw (RSW) 1,478.00p +16.38%Man Group (EMG) 78.75p +9.38%Petropavlovsk (POG) 400.80p +5.22%Ocado Group (OCDO) 75.05p +4.67%CSR (CSR) 308.10p +4.02%Senior (SNR) 188.90p +3.79%FirstGroup (FGP) 212.90p +3.65%Lancashire Holdings (LRE) 783.00p +3.30%Cape (CIU) 274.50p +2.96%Avocet Mining (AVM) 67.15p +2.91%FTSE 250 - FallersDrax Group (DRX) 442.00p -14.75%Cookson Group (CKSN) 548.50p -7.97%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 734.50p -6.97%Informa (INF) 350.40p -5.27%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 106.90p -4.89%Atkins (WS) (ATK) 722.00p -3.86%Genus (GNS) 1,286.00p -3.81%Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 240.00p -3.23%Galliford Try (GFRD) 606.00p -2.65%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 411.00p -2.40%BC