LONDON (ShareCast) - London's benchmark FTSE 100 index dropped into the red in early trading on Wednesday morning after Eurozone finance ministers delayed a decision on the next tranche of the Greek bailout.

Matthew Nelson, a financial sales trader from Spreadex, said this morning: "The poor sentiment has not been aided by the fact that the Israel/Gaza ceasefire is still hanging in the balance and Hewlett Packard’s row over their acquisition of Autonomy.
 
"Perhaps unsurprisingly the dollar, often viewed as a safe haven, has strengthened as sentiment worsens and equities are hit."

The Eurogroup last night was unable to thrash out an agreement on how to finance a two-year extension in Greece’s commitments. While some of the country’s lenders – such as Germany, the Netherlands and Finland (the other Troika) - are willing to consider a temporary suspension of interest payments, they refuse to put more money on the table.

"I don’t know when [the aid disbursements] will happen," said Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker after the meeting in Brussels. "Greece has delivered, now it is up to us."

FTSE 100: Johnson Matthey drops on gloomy outlook

Platinum refiner Johnson Matthey was a heavy faller after reporting a 6% drop in pre-tax profits in the first half and saying that it doesn't expect things to pick up in the latter part of the fiscal year.

Chief Executive Neil Carson said: "Whilst precious metal prices have improved from their lows during the summer, largely due to the labour unrest in South Africa, the outlook in some of our other markets has weakened and visibility remains limited. We therefore expect that the group's performance in the second half will be similar to the first half of the year." 

Contract caterer Compass sank early on in spite of its announcement of a further £400m share buy-back next year. The company saw profits break through the billion-pound barrier in the 12 months to the end of September.

Real estate peers Land Securities and British land were high risers this morning after Morgan Stanley upgraded its ratings on the stocks to 'overweight'. Meanwhile, the same broker lifted its recommendation for banking group Lloyds to 'equal weight', providing a lift to shares.

Utilities groups were in demand this morning in spite of the government's plans to simplify energy bills and offer customers the cheapest tariffs possible. United Utilies, Severn Trent, Pennon and National Grid were making gains this morning.

Xstrata and Glencore continued to rise after shareholders yesterday voted in favour of their propped merger. However, Xstrata Chairman Sir John Bond announced that he would retire after the completion of the tie-up after shareholders did not give the green light to the proposed retention arrangements for management.

FTSE 250: Imagination Tech falls on rival bid for MIPS

Imagination Technologies has said that it has become aware that MIPS Technologies, a US computing company which Imagination is set to acquire, has received an unsolicited proposal from CEVA to acquire all of its outstanding shares. Shares tanked early on.

Car and bike parts retailer Halfords dropped after saying that full-year profits will be slightly below consensus estimates.

Sports apparel group JD Sports Fashion edged higher after seeing like-for-like sales growth pick up slightly in the third quarter despite seeing what it labelled as a "tough" environment.

Property firm Capco gained after receiving the approval of another London council for its 10.1m square-foot Earls Court Masterplan.


FTSE 100 - Risers
United Utilities Group (UU.) 672.00p +1.97%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,575.00p +1.81%
British Land Co (BLND) 524.00p +1.75%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 786.50p +1.22%
Xstrata (XTA) 997.50p +1.10%
Glencore International (GLEN) 335.00p +0.98%
National Grid (NG.) 703.00p +0.86%
BG Group (BG.) 1,038.00p +0.68%
Pennon Group (PNN) 608.00p +0.66%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 45.58p +0.65%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,185.00p -6.02%
Compass Group (CPG) 690.50p -2.61%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 159.45p -1.76%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,064.00p -1.75%
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 270.60p -1.60%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,980.50p -1.57%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,565.00p -1.57%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,951.00p -1.46%
Kingfisher (KGF) 274.20p -1.33%
Evraz (EVR) 227.40p -1.17%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 549.00p +1.67%
Workspace Group (WKP) 302.40p +1.24%
Law Debenture Corp. (LWDB) 401.00p +1.01%
TUI Travel (TT.) 260.70p +0.85%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 504.00p +0.80%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 627.50p +0.80%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 104.20p +0.77%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 75.20p +0.74%
Salamander Energy (SMDR) 182.20p +0.72%
SEGRO (SGRO) 224.70p +0.67%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 415.50p -5.74%
Halfords Group (HFD) 330.80p -4.12%
Menzies(John) (MNZS) 582.00p -3.40%
Redrow (RDW) 152.40p -2.87%
Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 102.70p -2.84%
HICL Infrastructure Company Ltd (HICL) 122.00p -2.48%
London & Stamford Property (LSP) 108.50p -2.25%
Lonmin (LMI) 304.10p -2.12%
Savills (SVS) 415.10p -1.96%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 560.00p -1.84%

BC

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