The CSI 300 index in China, which shed a quarter of its value last year, fell 1.4 per cent today but London ended the day higher An Yuan/China News Service/VCG/Getty ImagesLondon’s stock markets reversed earlier losses to end the first day of trading for 2019 in positive territory. The start of global trading today got off to a disppointing start as poor economic data from China unsettled investors in Europe and Asia. The Caixin/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for December fell to 49.7, from 50.2 in November, the first contraction in Chinese manufacturing activity in 19 months. The FTSE 100 fell as much as 1.9 per cent in early trading before clawing back losses to close 0.1 per cent, or 6.1 points, higher at 6,734.23. The more domestic-focused FTSE 250, which dropped 251 points at one stage, was up 42.98 points, or 0.3 per cent at 17,545.11 coming into the close in London.

Source: The Times January 02, 2019 09:00 UTC