MONDAY MARKET CLOSE : Airline rally fails to provide lift-off

AN EARNINGS upgrade for Ryanair helped travel stocks rise today but failed to provide lift-off for the wider market as sentiment was depressed by disappointing manufacturing data.

The FTSE 100 Index closed 58.5 points or 0.9 per cent lower at 6,487.97 despite gains for several holiday firms with the wider market downbeat after weak manufacturing data from China and the eurozone, with Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac 40 firmly in the red.

In the US, the performance of the sector improved but separate economic data showed construction spending falling. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was in negative territory at the time of the close in London.

Manufacturing data in the UK had showed a bounce back in October from a 17-month low in September but Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct said: “The fact that the UK reading came in well ahead of expectations has offered little comfort – the real fear lies with the economic health of trade partners and with even the US print coming in a shade lower, once again questions are being asked as to whether the Fed is moving too quickly with its plans to tighten monetary policy.”

Meanwhile state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 7.8p to 380.2p after a broker note downgraded the lender to “sell” following the boost to the share price on third-quarter results last week.

Among smaller companies, shares in Scottish telecoms business Pinnacle were unchanged at 6.5p after it announced it had raised £500,000 in a placing.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 Index were EasyJet up 40p to 1,540p, Petrofac up 20p to 1,080p, Tui Travel up 7.4p to 406p and Intercontinental Hotels Group up 36p to 2,405p.