London midday: FTSE higher on mixed data and Vodafone takeover talk

- Shares trading modestly higher by lunchtime- Manufacturing PMI comes in below expectations- Vodafone leaps on takeover chatter, Meggitt slumps techMARK 2,653.51 -0.32%FTSE 100 6,732.87 +0.02%FTSE 250 15,468.65 -0.07%The FTSE was slightly higher by the midday point, as investors weighed up UK and Chinese PMI data releases with mixed corporate earnings news. New export orders rose at their fastest rate in the 32 months to October, helping the British manufacturing sector to make a solid start to the fourth quarter, it was revealed this morning. Total new orders rose close to August's 19-year peak and companies reported seeing a pickup in new work coming from Asia, the US, mainland Europe, Ireland, the Middle East and Russia, survey compiler Markit said.Its UK manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) slipped to 56.0 in October from a revised reading of 56.3 in September. That was a shade below the consensus estimate of 56.1 for the month but Markit pointed out the rate of expansion was only moderately below the two-and-a-half year high recorded in August.Meanwhile, October Chinese factory activity gave investors some cause for concern because although it climbed from 51.1 to 51.4 month-on-month, there was in fact a significant gap between big and small manufacturers, with the smaller companies actually experiencing a contraction in the four-week period. Zhao Qinghe, a spokesman for China's National Bureau of Statistics, said: "Although the PMI rose in October for the fourth consecutive month, the momentum driving the increase is unbalanced."Focus will be on events in the US this afternoon In the US, the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) manufacturing index is expected to fall to 55.1 in October from 56.2 a month earlier. A reading above 50 signals expansion.Later in the day, Federal Reserve officials will speak after the central bank this week announced it was keeping its monetary policy unchanged. The Fed on Wednesday said it would maintain its monthly $85bn bond buying programme and keep its interest rate at 0.25%.Meanwhile, some spying by the US National Security Agency went too far, the US Secretary of State John Kerry has conceded. He assured listeners that he would work together with President Obama to ensure no further inappropriate spying took place. The issue has caused considerable tension between the US and its European allies. Meggitt leads the downsideMeggitt had a double dose of bad news for investors as it told them trading had been "slightly" below expectations and a supply hiccup could cost 20m pounds. The FTSE 100 aerospace and defence manufacturer warned it now expected 2013 revenue growth rates to be in the "low single digits". It had given guidance of mid single digit revenue growth for the full year at its interims in August.RBS was also significantly lower after it said it will not split into 'good' and 'bad' banks and will instead create an internal 'bad bank' where it will shelve off £38bn of its toxic assets. The group reported a 14% fall in core operating profit to £1.28bn in the third quarter, while non-core operating losses widened to £845m from £586m a year earlier due to exit and restructuring costs as the bank prepares to return to privatisation. Antofagasta continued to fall one day after the mining group's quarterly production report. Antofagasta reported a drop in gold and copper production in its third quarter reflecting lower grades at its mining operations.Meanwhile, Vodafone shares jumped on reports that AT&T is planning to invest in the telecoms giant in early 2014. Shares in Royal Dutch Shell regained some of yesterday's heavy losses, which occured after the group said its earnings declined more than expected due to weaker refinery conditions, higher costs and lower volumes. Chief Executive Officer Peter Voser said headwinds that continued to "erode the near term outlook" included weak industry refining margins and security issues in Nigeria but pointed to a strong flow of new projects and said Shell would increase the pace of asset sales. In other noteworthy news, the founder of Dunelm, the homewares retailer, has been unveiled as a major shareholder in Marks & Spencer. Bill Adderley is the company's biggest private investor with a 3% stake, market filings have revealed. FTSE 100 - RisersVodafone Group (VOD) 230.10p +2.49%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,187.50p +1.30%Schroders (SDR) 2,611.00p +1.24%Next (NXT) 5,505.00p +1.10%Tullow Oil (TLW) 952.00p +1.01%Shire Plc (SHP) 2,778.00p +0.98%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 946.50p +0.96%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,070.00p +0.66%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,089.50p +0.63%GKN (GKN) 370.20p +0.63%FTSE 100 - FallersMeggitt (MGGT) 514.50p -10.13%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 340.90p -7.26%Antofagasta (ANTO) 836.00p -2.22%Aggreko (AGK) 1,584.00p -1.61%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 4,770.00p -1.61%Barclays (BARC) 259.60p -1.52%Wolseley (WOS) 3,312.00p -1.46%British Land Co (BLND) 613.50p -1.37%William Hill (WMH) 395.80p -1.27%easyJet (EZJ) 1,295.00p -1.07%FTSE 250 - RisersGreencore Group (GNC) 186.00p +3.28%IP Group (IPO) 151.50p +3.06%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 20.80p +2.21%AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 866.50p +1.94%RPS Group (RPS) 295.60p +1.93%WH Smith (SMWH) 918.00p +1.89%Partnership Assurance Group (PA.) 415.20p +1.76%Rank Group (RNK) 145.90p +1.67%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 195.60p +1.61%Carillion (CLLN) 308.70p +1.55%FTSE 250 - FallersGo-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,616.00p -3.92%Polymetal International (POLY) 582.50p -2.84%Evraz (EVR) 115.40p -2.20%Alent (ALNT) 339.50p -2.05%Diploma (DPLM) 679.00p -2.02%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 120.40p -1.95%Cobham (COB) 282.80p -1.87%Essar Energy (ESSR) 117.20p -1.68%F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 99.95p -1.53%Genus (GNS) 1,300.00p -1.52%FTSE TechMARK - RisersPuricore (PURI) 51.00p +10.87%Anite (AIE) 91.50p +1.39%Skyepharma (SKP) 101.00p +1.25%E2V Technologies (E2V) 145.00p +0.69%NCC Group (NCC) 165.00p +0.61%Vectura Group (VEC) 110.50p +0.45%XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,573.00p +0.19%FTSE TechMARK - FallersAntisoma (ASM) 1.40p -9.68%BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 18.00p -1.37%Torotrak (TRK) 27.00p -0.92%Consort Medical (CSRT) 884.00p -0.90%Ricardo (RCDO) 606.50p -0.66%Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF) 139.69p -0.58%Sepura (SEPU) 145.25p -0.51%Kofax (KFX) 378.00p -0.26%Vislink (VLK) 48.62p -0.26%Phoenix IT Group (PNX) 146.25p -0.17%NR