| There were no fireworks in London equity markets on Monday, with the top-flight index nudging lower in early trade ahead of the release of the latest UK services data. At 0835 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.2% to 7,080.30, faring pretty well considering the heavy losses seen in Asia following disappointing services data. Dampening sentiment was data from China that backed up last week's disappointing official figures, with the Caixin-Markit services purchasing managers' index declining to 50.8 in October from 53.1 the month before, marking the lowest reading since September 2017. Meanwhile, the composite index fell to 50.5 from 51.2, hitting a 28-month low. In currency markets, the pound was up 0.2% against the dollar at 1.2999 and 0.3% firmer versus the euro at 1.1415. Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said the performance of sterling over the rest of the day may be dependent on Markit's services purchasing managers' index for October, which is due at 0930 GMT. "Last week saw a 27 month-low manufacturing reading followed by a better than forecast, three-month high construction PMI; the services finale might be closer to the former, with analysts expecting it to slip from 53.9 to 53.4 month-on-month," Campbell said. More broadly, investors were likely to be feeling a little cautious ahead of the US mid-terms on Tuesday and following the reinstatement of sanctions on Iran. The Trump administration has reinstated all sanctions removed under the 2015 nuclear deal. "The question is whether Washington’s sanctions hold, whether Trump doubles down and toughens up limitations, or if there is thawing in relations," said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com. "The last of those seems highly unlikely - the bigger risk is that Trump removes waivers depending on how he assesses the impact of the sanctions." As far as the mid-terms go, there are concerns that if the Democrats succeed in taking control of the House, things will get complicated for the Trump administration. "The question here is does a loss of Republican power tie Trump’s hands on issues like trade, or does it embolden him further to strike executive orders? Is a weakened Trump positive or negative for the US dollar?" said Wilson. On the corporate front, equipment rental firm Ashtead was the worst performer on the FTSE 100 after Barclays slashed its price target on the stock to 2,200p from 2,580p. Specialist insurer Hiscox slumped after saying that gross written premiums rose 14.3% to $3.04bn in the first nine months of the year, but that there had been more claims in the third quarter from US Hurricanes Florence and Michael and Typhoons Jebi and Trammi, which hit Japan. Hiscox also saw a number of larger individual claims in big-ticket and retail businesses, including a large marine loss of $13m, while the UK & Ireland saw an uptick in subsidence claims following a particularly dry summer, as well as a continuation of escape of water claims. Shore Capital analyst Paul De'Ath said that while the business continues to grow - excluding the impact of reinstatement premiums - and is fully prepared for a hard Brexit, the challenging claims environment in the third quarter and muted guidance on growth for the rest of the year are not positive. "With the shares up 12% year-to-date, there is still scope to take profits here," he added. Plastic packaging supplier RPC Group fell as the deadline for private equity firms Apollo Global Management and Bain Capital to make an offer for the company was extended again. ITV bucked the trend as the broadcaster lured Chris Kennedy from Micro Focus to be its new chief financial officer from 1 February. Kennedy worked with ITV boss Carolyn McCall for several year at easyJet and has a strong background in media from his 17 years at EMI. Micro Focus, meanwhile, was in the green as it appointed Brian McArthur-Muscroft from Paysafe as a replacement CFO and issued a short trading statement to the effect that full year revenue will be towards the upper end of its previously guided range. The software group also said it was restarting its share buyback programme. Elsewhere, Barclays was given a leg up as it was upgraded to 'buy' at Bankhaus Lampe, while Paddy Power was raised to 'equalweight' at Morgan Stanley. Mediclinic was cut to 'hold' at Investec and Babcock was downgraded to 'sector perform' at RBC Capital Markets. | 
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