London midday: RSA, financials drag markets lower

- RSA, G4S, banks lead losses- M&S, Imperial, miners provide some support to markets- UK services growth accelerated in OctobertechMARK 2,636.31 -0.57%FTSE 100 6,723.10 -0.60%FTSE 250 15,367.18 -0.65%A gloomy update from insurance firm RSA and heavy falls across the wider financial sector weighed on markets on Tuesday, as investors shrugged off a better-than-expected survey of the UK services sector.According to Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari, investors are "trading with an element of caution" today ahead of Thursday's policy meeting at the European Central Bank (ECB), as speculation continues to ramp up about an imminent rate cut following last week's inflation figure."The response to the figure has been very positive so far, helping a number of European indices record a fifth consecutive winning week. It would appear that the rate cut has now been priced in though, with indices today edging lower, as traders lock in profits ahead of Thursday's meeting," Erlam said.Over in the UK, the Markit/CIPS service sector purchasing managers' index came in at 62.5 for October, compared with 60.3 the month before and much better than consensus forecast of 59.8. This was the fastest pace of expansion in activity since May 1997 as capacity was being tested in the sector, according to Markit.Martin Beck, UK Economist at Capital Economics, said that with following the strength seen in the latest construction and manufacturing data for last month, "a weighted average of the three CIPS surveys points to quarterly gross domestic product growth in Q4 of at least 1.5%". While he noted it is still "early days", this would be a significant acceleration from the 0.8% growth seen in the third quarter.According to NIESR, the Bank of England is likely to lift interest rates sooner than expected to keep the economy from overheating. The think tank believes that the central bank will hike the Bank Rate from the current level of 0.5% in the second half of 2015 as it raised its economic growth prospects for this year and the next.RSA drops as weather dents resultsRSA fell sharply this morning after saying that recent storms and heavy winds now mean that weather-related losses will be "materially above planning assumptions" in 2013. The company has now said that its full-year return on equity will be below 10%.Other financials were also trading in the red today with domestic lenders Barclays, Lloyds and RBS and Aberdeen Asset Management registering steep losses by midday. Even insurance firm Legal & General was lower despite its third-quarter worldwide sales coming in ahead of forecasts. AB Foods also underwhelmed despite a better-than-expected set of annual results following a strong performance from Primark and an improvement in its Grocery division. Security group G4S, which is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office over a government contract, declined after saying that has identified 35 businesses to grow or restructure. Leading the upside was M&S after saying that its "transformation" was on track following a 3.6% increase in sales in the first half, as a strong performance in food offset weakness in clothing.Imperial Tobacco Group gained after an in-line set of annual results with earnings per share up 6% at constant currency. Drug developer Shire also rose after positive results for its Binge Eating Disorder treatment, Vyvanse.Mining stocks were also doing their best to limit downside on markets this morning with Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Glencore Xstrata, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton and Fresnillo all registering decent gains.FTSE 100 - RisersMarks & Spencer Group (MKS) 504.00p +3.47%Anglo American (AAL) 1,543.00p +3.25%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,365.00p +2.30%Antofagasta (ANTO) 880.50p +1.97%Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 341.95p +1.95%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,353.00p +1.86%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,107.00p +1.84%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,981.50p +1.64%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,017.00p +1.60%Shire Plc (SHP) 2,859.00p +1.38%FTSE 100 - FallersRSA Insurance Group (RSA) 120.80p -6.43%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 211.00p -3.17%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 432.00p -3.07%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 321.60p -3.04%Persimmon (PSN) 1,230.00p -2.92%Barclays (BARC) 247.85p -2.86%G4S (GFS) 247.40p -2.60%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 75.18p -2.41%Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,206.00p -2.17%Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,730.00p -2.15%FTSE 250 - RisersKazakhmys (KAZ) 273.80p +5.55%RPC Group (RPC) 526.50p +3.74%Polymetal International (POLY) 590.50p +3.32%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 195.10p +3.06%Lonmin (LMI) 334.00p +2.61%IP Group (IPO) 150.50p +2.38%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 110.80p +2.03%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 199.60p +1.99%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 2,050.00p +1.49%SIG (SHI) 206.00p +1.48%FTSE 250 - FallersCSR (CSR) 499.90p -8.44%Telecity Group (TCY) 698.50p -5.61%888 Holdings (888) 153.10p -3.59%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 324.90p -3.22%Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 373.70p -2.94%Keller Group (KLR) 1,007.00p -2.71%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 107.90p -2.62%Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,271.00p -2.57%Bellway (BWY) 1,465.00p -2.46%Galliford Try (GFRD) 1,110.00p -2.37%BC