Reuters: Hot Stocks: Britain's FTSE 100 pegged back by weak Chinese data

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Britain's FTSE 100 pegged back by weak Chinese data Jun 10th 2013, 11:10 Mon Jun 10, 2013 7:10am EDT * FTSE 100 flat around 100-day moving average * Miners among top fallers after weak China data * Investors using recent weakness to snap up old favorites By Toni Vorobyova LONDON, June 10 (Reuters) - Britain's benchmark share index steadied around a key technical level on Monday, with weakness in miners partly offset by demand for healthcare and travel shares cheapened by a recent sell-off. Industrial metals and miners were hit by a run of softer-than-expected Chinese data at the weekend which raised the prospect of lower second-quarter economic growth in the world's top metals consumer. The Chinese numbers capped upward momentum from late last week, when weaker U.S. jobs data calmed investor concerns about a possible early easing of central bank stimulus, credited as a key driver of global equity market gains over the past year. The FTSE 100 was steady at 6,409.05 at 1051 GMT. "We were expecting quite a strong start to the week, but we have been pegged back by some not-great data from China," said Jonathan Roy, dealer at London Stone Securities. "We are just being quite stock specific. We like the look of companies that have been doing relatively well through this volatility in the market - the likes of EasyJet and William Hill - and seeing the pull-back as a buying opportunity for these stocks." Budget airline EasyJet was one of the top gainers, after a steep drop last week. It rose 2.1 percent, taking comfort from lower oil prices, a boon for fuel consumers which analysts say the market has yet to price in. Healthcare companies also held up, with investors welcoming AstraZeneca's move to strengthen its respiratory portfolio by acquiring Pearl Therapeutics. "Some might choke on the price of the asset, but to us AstraZeneca's acquisition of Pearl Therapeutics was strategically important and had to be done," Panmure Gordon analyst Savvas Neophytou said. "Today's acquisition does not result in changes to forecasts but with one big hole plugged, we are warming to the story once more." Merger and acquisitions news flow was negative, however, with Severn Trent down 4.9 percent to 1,965.38 pence after rejecting a 2,200 pence per share bid offer on Friday. (Editing by Catherine Evans) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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