London close: US manufacturing data fuels late surge

- US data offsets disappointing figures from China, UK- Lloyds leads banks higher, Man Group tumbles- Chemring gains 20pc after contract winWith markets cautious early on after some disappointing manufacturing data from China and the UK, an upwards surprise in manufacturing figures Stateside gave London's FTSE 100 a boost in afternoon trade. The benchmark surged by 50 points in the hour after the US data and finished over 1.3 per cent higher.The US manufacturing sector expanded at a faster-than-expected rate in April, according to the latest data from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The ISM's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) improved from 53.4% in March to 54.8% last month. The market consensus was expecting a slight fall to around the 53%-mark.The report will likely ease some concerns surrounding the US economy as of late, with regional manufacturing surveys (including the Empire State, Philadelphia Fed, and Chicago PMI) all showing declines in April. "The news provided a major lift to equities, which have been struggling since it was confirmed that Spain had entered a double dip recession yesterday morning," said analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari. "The data is likely to calm talk of further QE in the US for now, however the market is fickle, low employment figures, especially non-farm payroll on Friday, will surely get the QE rumour mill going again," Erlam said.Earlier in the day, it was revealed that UK manufacturing growth eased in April as exports were hit by weaker demand from across the globe. The Markit/CIPS manufacturing PMI fell from 51.9 to 50.5, compared with the consensus forecast of 51.6. Meanwhile, China's statistics bureau and logistics federation reported that the national manufacturing PMI rose from 53.1 to 53.3, missing forecasts of a rise to 53.6.FTSE 100: Banks surge after results from LloydsLloyds reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings this morning, following on from last week's beat from Barclays. Profits were back in the black in the first three months of 2012, prompting an 8% jump in the share price by the close of trade. The bank said pre-tax profits came in at £288m compared to a loss of £3.47bn in the same period the year before. "If [CEO] Antonio still needs cheering up after the 6% share price rebound of the past eight days then the underlying trends visible in today's numbers could be just the tonic," said analysts at Investec, which reiterated its buy rating on the stock today. Results from Standard Chartered and Royal Bank of Scotland are due for release later this week.Cigarette producer Imperial Tobacco was smoking after beating market expectations in its first half. "Would not expect much change to consensus numbers on the back of these results, but positive tone from management into H2 will give the market some comfort on the top line delivery in H2," said analysts at Jefferies.Engine developer Rolls-Royce rose strongly after announcing a contract with US peer Pratt and Whitney to supply the Rolls-Royce LiftSystem for 17 F-35B Lightning II aircraft. Just a handful of stocks finished the day in the red, with hedge fund manager Man Group the stand-out faller, dropping nearly 6%. While the firm reported a slight increase in funds under management in the first quarter, the company reported a negative performance from its flagship AHL fund. Integrated oil major BP also fell after underlying replacement cost profit was down in the first quarter, with the downstream business primarily responsible for the fall-off. ?? FTSE 250: Chemring rocketsThe share price of pyrotechnics and military counter-measures specialist Chemring rose by a fifth today after the firm announced two new orders, one big and one small. The largest was in the US, where its Non-Intrusive Inspection Technology (NITEK) division was awarded a contract for the ground penetrating radar, Husky mounted detection system. The contract ceiling is $579m with an initial order of $161m. Shares in energy and mineral extraction industries services provider Cape advanced after the firm announced that underlying revenues increased by one-tenth in the first quarter. Oil and gas engineering firm Lamprell also rose after saying it had secured a $227m contract from an unnamed drilling contractor to build one of its popular jackup rigs. Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail was out of favour ahead of its full-year results due tomorrow morning. The company said last month that its full-year results should be in line with expectations, albeit somewhat lower than the previous year.FTSE 100 - RisersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 33.59p +8.34%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 25.30p +4.24%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,556.00p +3.73%Barclays (BARC) 226.20p +3.64%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 853.00p +3.58%Wolseley (WOS) 2,423.00p +3.41%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,613.00p +3.40%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,039.00p +3.27%Capita (CPI) 684.50p +3.24%Aviva (AV.) 317.50p +3.05%FTSE 100 - FallersMan Group (EMG) 97.80p -5.51%Next (NXT) 2,896.00p -1.13%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,200.00p -0.91%BP (BP.) 441.30p -0.83%Pearson (PSON) 1,153.00p -0.60%IMI (IMI) 985.00p -0.45%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 279.40p -0.43%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,683.00p -0.41%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 282.40p -0.39%ARM Holdings (ARM) 522.00p -0.38%FTSE 250 - RisersChemring Group (CHG) 391.90p +20.03%Cape (CIU) 407.10p +7.87%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 241.80p +5.50%Lamprell (LAM) 362.00p +4.02%PayPoint (PAY) 663.00p +3.67%Booker Group (BOK) 81.90p +3.67%easyJet (EZJ) 513.50p +3.55%Shanks Group (SKS) 95.70p +3.46%Restaurant Group (RTN) 290.00p +3.24%Interserve (IRV) 295.30p +3.18%FTSE 250 - FallersHome Retail Group (HOME) 101.00p -5.25%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 656.50p -4.51%Supergroup (SGP) 333.00p -4.26%CSR (CSR) 222.80p -3.42%Rank Group (RNK) 113.50p -2.99%Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 253.00p -2.32%Ocado Group (OCDO) 127.00p -2.16%Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 120.00p -1.64%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 177.10p -1.61%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 67.50p -1.60%BC