If the array keys in your PHP array are not consecutive numbers, json_encode() must make the other construct an object since JavaScript arrays are always consecutively numerically indexed.

Use array_values() on the outer structure in PHP to discard the original array keys and replace them with zero-based consecutive numbering:

Example:

// Non-consecutive 3number keys are OK for PHP
// but not for a JavaScript array
$array = array(
  2 => array("Afghanistan", 32, 13),
  4 => array("Albania", 32, 12)
);

// array_values() removes the original keys and replaces
// with plain consecutive numbers
$out = array_values($array);
json_encode($out);
// [["Afghanistan", 32, 13], ["Albania", 32, 12]]

For some reason your PHP was compiled without JSON. Either:

• Recompile it
• Install a package
• Use a function that emulates json_encode, which can be found in the comments section of http://php.net/manual/en/function.json-encode.php

The manual for json_encode specifies this:

All string data must be UTF-8 encoded.

Thus, try array_mapping utf8_encode() to your array before you encode it:

Copy$arr = array_map('utf8_encode', $arr);
$json = json_encode($arr);

// {"funds":"ComStage STOXX\u00c2\u00aeEurope 600 Techn NR ETF"}

For reference, take a look at the differences between the three examples on this fiddle. The first doesn't use character encoding, the second uses htmlentities and the third uses utf8_encode - they all return different results.

For consistency, you should use utf8_encode().

Docs

• json_encode()
• utf8_encode()
• array_map()