London midday: Stocks snap winning streak as Chinese data disappoints

Disappointing economic data from China on Monday put an end to a seven-day winning streak in London which lifted the FTSE 100 to a five-and-a-half-year high last week.London's benchmark index reached a closing price of 6,625 on Friday afternoon, a level not seen since late 2007, meaning that it has gained a total of 12% in 2013 so far.Industrial output data from economic powerhouse China clocked in below expectations for April, rising at an annual rate of 9.3%, accelerating from the 8.9% growth in March but under the 9.4% consensus estimate. Chinese retail sales growth, however, matched predictions at 12.8% year-on-year in April, up from 12.6% the month before."The Chinese figures this morning weren't the end of the world, they were only marginally below market expectations," said Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari."However, we've just had a four-day winning streak in most European indices, so investors will have been looking for an excuse to lock in profits. Now, as it has been for months now, it's just going to be a case of waiting for the next dip before we see more buying."Markets largely shrugged off a decent debt auction in Italy which saw three-year bond yields fall to their lowest since January. The Treasury sold its maximum target of €8.0bn though demand on three separate issuances slipped slightly from the previous auctions.The G7 summit over the weekend showed support for Japan's ultra-loose monetary policy, easing concerns that Japanese officials would come under pressure given the recent weakening in the yen - the currency last week broke above 100 against the dollar.Investors are likely to pay close attention to the Eurogroup meeting in Brussels later on with finance ministers expected to discuss the aid package to Cyprus as well as the release of the next part of Greece's bailout. First up however are retail sales from the US, which are due out before the opening bell on Wall Street - the consensus forecast is for a 0.3% fall in April, easing from a 0.4% decline the month before. FTSE 100: Financials under pressure in morning tradeFinancial stocks were among the worst performers this morning as risk appetite was scaled back following last week's strong gains. Standard Chartered, Barclays, RBS, HSBC and Lloyds were all registering losses early on.StanChart fell following reports that short seller Carson Block is betting against the company's debt, saying its loan quality is "deteriorating" and that the market "misunderstands the amount of risk that's presently in the book". Meanwhile, Lloyds slumped after the part-nationalised lender revealed that Chairman Sir Winfried Bischoff would retire within the year, a move thought to be in anticipation of the bank's potential privatisation.Airline group IAG was extending losses after Friday's first-quarter results in which it reported an operating loss of €278m, slightly worse than the year before.Broadcasting group ITV was also lower after acquiring a controlling stake in High Noon Entertainment, a firm which supplies reality and entertainment shows for US cable networks.Heading the other way was utilities provider Centrica after saying that it has performed well to date and expects full-year earnings growth to be line with market expectations as it starts its £500m share buy-back programme.Glencore Xstrata, the newly merged commodities trader and mining giant, edged higher after recording production growth across most of its asset classes in the first quarter. However the company did admit that its Marketing division saw "some softening in prices towards the end of the quarter". Sector peer Vedanta was being weighed down by a ratings cut by Deutsche Bank to 'hold'.FTSE 250: Ocado and Rank provide a dragOnline grocery firm Ocado was sharply lower this morning on reports that Waitrose could launch legal action if it breaches its contract to help rival supermarket Morrison develop an internet shopping site.Meanwhile, Mecca bingo owner Rank Group declined after saying that full-year figures are likely to come in "marginally below" last year, owing to the cold weather in the third quarter which dented the top line.FTSE 100 - RisersG4S (GFS) 255.50p +3.15%Antofagasta (ANTO) 932.00p +2.08%Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,093.00p +1.77%BAE Systems (BA.) 386.40p +1.76%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,080.00p +1.40%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,380.00p +1.36%Capita (CPI) 933.00p +1.25%Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,400.00p +1.22%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 386.80p +1.20%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,689.50p +1.17%FTSE 100 - FallersInternational Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 264.90p -3.99%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,524.00p -3.73%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 57.53p -2.39%Carnival (CCL) 2,343.00p -2.25%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 293.60p -1.97%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 456.90p -1.70%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 732.60p -1.64%GKN (GKN) 286.10p -1.62%Aviva (AV.) 318.60p -1.48%Anglo American (AAL) 1,568.00p -1.45%FTSE 250 - RisersLonmin (LMI) 292.40p +4.88%Regus (RGU) 176.50p +3.82%Renishaw (RSW) 1,765.00p +2.62%QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 192.50p +1.91%Berendsen (BRSN) 766.50p +1.86%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 395.40p +1.59%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 38.45p +1.53%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 207.00p +1.47%Unite Group (UTG) 369.20p +1.43%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 106.50p +1.43%FTSE 250 - FallersOcado Group (OCDO) 203.00p -9.62%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 141.50p -7.52%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,661.00p -4.49%TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 209.60p -3.59%Elementis (ELM) 246.80p -2.95%Diploma (DPLM) 582.00p -2.92%Rank Group (RNK) 161.50p -2.71%Laird (LRD) 203.50p -2.30%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 28.58p -2.22%Keller Group (KLR) 867.50p -2.14%BC