London midday: Markets rise after manufacturing data

- Chinese and Indian PMIs improve- UK manufacturing PMI beats forecasts- Miners provide a lift in LondonThe Footsie had held on to gains by Monday lunchtime after some decent manufacturing figures from China and India, though the mood was cautious on the back of uncertainties surrounding the US 'fiscal cliff' and Greece.The final reading for the HSBC China purchasing managers' index (PMI) increased from 49.5 to 50.5 in November, in line with the preliminary estimates. Meanwhile, the official PMI from National Bureau of Statistics rose to a seven-month high of 50.6, up from 50.2 in October. Meanwhile, India's manufacturing PMI recorded its fastest growth in five months, coming in at 53.7. "Thus, better-than-expected manufacturing data from two export giants is sending a clear signal to investors which is the pace of the global economic recovery is back-on-track," said financial trade Shavaz Dhalla from Spreadex.Meanwhile, the Markit UK manufacturing PMI rose to 49.1 in November, up from a three-month low of 47.3 in October. The consensus estimate had been for a smaller rise to 48, but the sector still remains in contraction (below 50)."The sector has been struggling in the UK for a long time now and isn't showing any signs of a real recovery any time soon. This is a positive figure however it's more likely to be a temporary improvement than a move towards sustained growth," said market analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari.Across the Pond, discussions about the US budget remain deadlocked. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner said that Republicans must yield on the issue of higher taxes for top earners, while House Speaker John Boehner said that Democrats are talking nonsense.Meanwhile, the Eurogroup is meeting today to focus on Greece and the controversial voluntary debt buy-back scheme. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the Bild newspaper at the weekend that Germany would considering writing off debt once Greece tips into a budget surplus. "Given that these private bond holders have already seen their holdings undertake a haircut once already this year, they could well resent being asked to take yet another loss on their holdings, while EU governments continue to refuse one of their own," said market analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets. FTSE 100: Polymetal gains after doubling estimates at Albazino Precious metals giant Polymetal rose after doubling its mineral resources estimate at its Albazino project in the Khabarovsk territory, Russia. The miner said that as of August 1st, mineral resources at Albazino were estimated at 37Mt with an average grade of 4.8g/t of gold (Au) containing 5.7Moz of Au. Sector peers Vedanta, Fresnillo and Kazakhmys were also higher this morning on the back of increased hopes for demand after the Chinese and Indian data.Banking stocks were mixed this morning with Lloyds and RBS trading in the red and Barclays and HSBC making gains. The Bank of England released details of its Funding for Lending (FLS) scheme this morning: net lending by participants was only £500m while total FLS drawdowns from the Bank were £4.4bn.Meanwhile, some ratings changes were having their usual effect on stocks this morning: Tullow Oil was performing well after HSBC upgraded its rating to 'neutral'; RSA Insurance gained after Deutsche Bank lifted its recommendation to 'buy'; Schroders rose after Bank of America ML raised it to a 'buy'; while Shell fell after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to 'hold'.Terrestrial broadcaster ITV was higher after reporting that the final of reality TV show 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here' had a peak audience of 10.6m, which was an impressive 47% share of TV viewers, according to Investec.FTSE 250: C&W Comms jumps after disposal plansCable & Wireless Communications surged after agreeing to sell the majority of its businesses in its Monaco & Islands division as it attempts to scale back its geographic footprint and focus on its core operations. CWC is selling the assets to Bahraini telecoms firm Batelco Group for an enterprise value of $680m. Mortgage provider Paragon Group of Companies was wanted after backing up press speculation by confirming that it is thinking about acquiring small private bank Hampshire Trust. The purchase would grant the company banking licence for the first time, allowing it offer savings accounts for its customers. Regeneration specialist St. Modwen Properties was in demand after saying expectations for the full year remain unchanged following strong momentum across the entire group. FTSE 100 - RisersSchroders (SDR) 1,652.00p +3.51%Reed Elsevier (REL) 661.00p +2.88%Sage Group (SGE) 319.20p +2.44%ITV (ITV) 101.20p +2.33%Melrose Industries (MRO) 218.00p +2.30%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,091.00p +1.87%Amec (AMEC) 1,063.00p +1.82%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 771.50p +1.65%Fresnillo (FRES) 2,020.00p +1.61%Pearson (PSON) 1,196.00p +1.53%FTSE 100 - FallersHargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 739.00p -2.38%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 337.80p -1.05%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 765.00p -1.03%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 46.17p -0.69%Babcock International Group (BAB) 990.50p -0.60%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,880.00p -0.53%National Grid (NG.) 701.50p -0.50%SABMiller (SAB) 2,818.00p -0.34%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 267.90p -0.33%Kingfisher (KGF) 277.10p -0.32%FTSE 250 - RisersCable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 36.40p +4.90%Man Group (EMG) 79.65p +3.71%Informa (INF) 433.20p +3.04%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 729.00p +2.68%Raven Russia Ltd (RUS) 63.95p +2.57%Ruspetro (RPO) 86.15p +2.56%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,920.00p +2.46%Lonmin (LMI) 263.90p +2.25%Spectris (SXS) 1,965.00p +2.18%Yule Catto & Co (YULC) 182.90p +2.18%FTSE 250 - FallersStobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 98.10p -3.44%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 103.00p -3.20%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 580.00p -2.36%RPC Group (RPC) 383.00p -2.12%IP Group (IPO) 109.70p -2.05%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 57.80p -1.53%Telecity Group (TCY) 844.00p -1.52%Savills (SVS) 440.80p -1.48%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 187.10p -1.47%SDL (SDL) 472.90p -1.44%BC