The Footsie struggles for direction amid lacklustre reaction to G20 ministers meeting

The London market struggled for direction in afternoon trading with traders unmoved by G20 finance ministers' pledge in China to boost global growth and mitigate the impact of the UK's Brexit vote at the weekend.

The FTSE 100 Index edged 2.1 points higher to 6732.6, reflecting that the ministers meeting in Chengdu stopped short of announcing any concerted joint action. The FTSE 250 Index rose 1%, or 169.7 points to 17153.1.

Spreadex financial analyst Connor Campbell said: "It was a struggle for investors to find any direction this Monday, leaving the UK and US markets in particularly looking pretty stagnant."

In the second tier fund manager Aberdeen Asset Management said the slide in the value of the pound after the Brexit vote helped boost its trading, despite £8.9bn ($11.7bn, €10.6bn) of net outflows during its third quarter. Shares lifted 7.9p to 323.9p.

The fund said in a statement covering the nine months to 30 June that the fall of sterling against most major currencies, combined with good investment performance, contributed to the increased value of its assets under management.

In afternoon trading the biggest risers on the FTSE 100 Index were 3i Group (+15p to 606p), St James's Place (+19.5p to 890p), Barratt Developments (+8.7p to 419.7p), BT Group (+8p to 392p) and Old Mutual (+4 to 208.2p).

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 Index BP (-6.4p to 445.7p), Royal Dutch Shell (-30p to 2118p), Randgold Resources (-110p to 8740p), Paddy Power Betfair and (-85p to 8705p) and EasyJet (-14p to 1013p).

The afternoon trading the biggest risers on the FTSE 250 Index were William Hill (+19.8 to 333.4p), CYBG (+13.2p to 254.8p), IP Group (+7.4p to 160p), Hochschild Mining (+9.6p to 241.6p) and Daejan Holdings (+215p to5450p).

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 250 Index were Cairn Energy (-9.6p to 179.8p), Vectura Group (-5.1p to 150.3p), Vesuvius (-9.5p to 330.3p), Amec Foster Wheeler (-11.1p to 463.4p) and Acacia Mining (-12p to 547p).