London open: Subdued half day trading

London's leading shares fell in light trading with financial and commodity plays under pressure in the year's final half-day trading session.Banks such as Barclays fell 0.9%, Royal Bank of Scotland lost 0.9% and Lloyds Banking Group dropped 0.8% in subdued pre New Year trading. Oil giants BP and Royal Dutch Shell each fell 0.5% as crude oil prices eased. A notable exception was BG Group which rose 1.57% on news that one of its assets in Brazil, Petrobras, is close to production. Precious metal miner Randgold Resources was another gainer, up 0.5%.In economic news China's manufacturing sector contracted for a second month in December, figures HSBC and Markit Economics showed, as Europe's debt crisis continues to take it toll on export demand. Decliners included carpet retailer Carpetright which fell 2.4%. The stock has seen its share price more than halve over the last year but it offered some hope earlier in December after it reported better than expected half year profit.UK house prices eased this month, the latest figures from mortgage lender Nationwide said today. ISM New York and Chicago PMI reports are due for release after the London close today.FTSE 100 - RisersBG Group (BG.) 1,392.00p +1.57%Polymetal International (POLY) 1,109.00p +1.56%Sage Group (SGE) 294.40p +1.48%CRH (CRH) 1,269.00p +1.44%Experian (EXPN) 869.50p +1.16%Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,030.00p +1.15%Bunzl (BNZL) 884.50p +0.97%Smiths Group (SMIN) 914.50p +0.77%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 297.90p +0.64%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 309.50p +0.62%FTSE 100 - FallersMan Group (EMG) 126.10p -1.56%Old Mutual (OML) 136.10p -1.31%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,481.00p -1.07%Carnival (CCL) 2,118.00p -1.07%Pearson (PSON) 1,209.00p -1.06%ARM Holdings (ARM) 585.50p -1.01%BT Group (BT.A) 190.10p -0.99%Barclays (BARC) 172.90p -0.92%Vedanta Resources (VED) 996.00p -0.90%National Grid (NG.) 622.00p -0.88%FTSE 250 - RisersRedrow (RDW) 114.40p +2.60%Britvic (BVIC) 319.70p +2.34%Petropavlovsk (POG) 610.50p +2.09%Chemring Group (CHG) 395.60p +1.99%PZ Cussons (PZC) 350.00p +1.92%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 90.25p +1.80%COLT Group SA (COLT) 89.50p +1.76%Rentokil Initial (RTO) 63.55p +1.76%WH Smith (SMWH) 522.00p +1.66%St James's Place (STJ) 334.10p +1.61%FTSE 250 - FallersCarpetright (CPR) 470.00p -2.81%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 243.00p -2.61%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 526.50p -2.05%Bumi (BUMI) 901.00p -1.91%Premier Farnell (PFL) 176.80p -1.78%Home Retail Group (HOME) 84.30p -1.63%Electrocomponents (ECM) 191.00p -1.55%Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) 389.60p -1.54%Kier Group (KIE) 1,340.00p -1.54%UBM (UBM) 466.40p -1.42%--cj