LONDON (ShareCast) - UK stocks were trading at levels not seen since the start of the year on Tuesday morning as fears about a Greek exit from the Eurozone intensified.
With Greece's current bailout set to expire on the same day that Athens faces a debt repayment to the IMF, investors were once again scaling back their appetite for risk, sending the FTSE 100 0.62% lower to 6,579.15 early on. The index has not closed below the 6,600 mark since 19 January.

After failing to secure a funding deal with creditors, Athens has effectively ran out of time to come up with the cash to repay the IMF €1.6bn by the 23:00 deadline on Tuesday evening.

The government has called a referendum on 5 July and has urged the public to vote against creditors' demands in an effort to help it negotiate a better bailout deal. In the meantime, banks will remain closed until after the vote.

Night dealer Jonathan Sudaria from London Capital Group said markets opened on the back foot "as traders don't know what to make of the Greek crisis".

"With only hours to go before Greece defaults on the IMF and the growing support for the 'no' vote, a full on ejection from Europe is a scarily possible reality," he said.

Tuesday is set to be a busy session in terms of economic data, with the final estimate of UK first-quarter GDP on tap in morning trade, along with figures on UK business investment, the UK current account, the UK index of services and the Lloyds business baromoter.

In terms of overseas data, the following key economic indicators will be released: German retail sales, Eurozone unemployment, Eurozone inflation, Canadian GDP, US home prices and US consumer confidence.

Northgate and Ocado fall

Commercial van hire group Northgate fell after underwhelming with its annual results, as it posted a 41% increase in underlying profits to £85m and hiked its dividend 45%. Broker Numis said trading was "solid" but lowered its rating on Northgate from 'add' to 'hold' due to less upside risk.

Investors also gave a cool reaction to half-year results from Ocado after the online grocery company missed forecasts slightly and reported a decline in the average basket size.

Global banking giant HSBC was in the red after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to 'neutral', while Compass was lower after Societe Generale cut its rating on the catering group to 'sell'.

Mining stocks were mostly lower as risk appetite waned, with heavyweights BHP Billiton, Glencore and Anglo American all registering falls. Rio Tinto, however, was seeing only small losses after a report in the Financial Times said that Xstrata's former boss Mick Davis was in "serious" talks about buying some of Rio's Australian coal assets.

Travel stocks TUI, Easyjet and IAG were edging higher after suffering steep losses the previous session on the back of fears about the impact on tourism from the Greek crisis and recent terrorist attacks.

Market Movers
techMARK 3,096.99 -0.50%
FTSE 100 6,579.15 -0.62%
FTSE 250 17,451.54 -0.47%

FTSE 100 - Risers
easyJet (EZJ) 1,552.00p +0.52%
Meggitt (MGGT) 465.30p +0.50%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,030.00p +0.49%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,052.00p +0.19%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,035.00p +0.10%
British Land Company (BLND) 803.50p +0.06%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,887.00p +0.05%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 493.40p +0.04%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 606.50p -1.70%
Standard Life (SL.) 451.30p -1.55%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 184.50p -1.55%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,057.00p -1.49%
Pearson (PSON) 1,211.00p -1.46%
Sage Group (SGE) 519.00p -1.42%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,717.00p -1.38%
Experian (EXPN) 1,159.00p -1.36%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 913.50p -1.30%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,150.00p -1.29%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Home Retail Group (HOME) 168.60p +3.88%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 154.00p +3.01%
PayPoint (PAY) 1,011.00p +2.43%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 453.70p +1.98%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,720.00p +1.15%
COLT Group SA (COLT) 190.00p +1.06%
Just Eat (JE.) 403.70p +0.90%
Countrywide (CWD) 572.00p +0.88%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,645.00p +0.72%
Computacenter (CCC) 772.50p +0.65%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Northgate (NTG) 578.00p -6.55%
Foxtons Group (FOXT) 234.20p -4.41%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 535.50p -3.95%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 413.00p -3.95%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 316.00p -2.32%
Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 158.00p -2.17%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,920.00p -2.11%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,767.00p -1.94%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 305.40p -1.86%
Interserve (IRV) 641.00p -1.84%

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