LONDON (ShareCast) - London-listed stocks are set to begin Friday's session in negative territory after it was revealed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has pulled the technical team that was negotiating with Athens.
City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around 21 points lower than Thursday's close of 6,846.74.

The IMF on Thursday said there were still "major differences" to be overcome and chose to leave negotiations taking place in Brussels and return to Washington. Particular areas of contention are pension and labour market reform.

"This is not the first time an official representing Greece's creditors has said this but still, the decision to abandon the talks altogether is a bold one," observed Oanda senior market analyst Craig Erlam.

"The current bailout expires at the end of the month, at which point Greece is due to pay €1.6bn to the IMF and €1.5bn in public sector wages and pensions.

"This seems unlikely to happen without securing the bailout funds but for that to happen, a deal is believed to need to be agreed next week in order to allow time for it to pass through respective parliaments. In the past, Greece has loved to push the boundaries and I'm sure this will probably happen again, especially as a deal currently looks far from being done."

The focus of the session will also be on UK construction output, Eurozone industrial production and US consumer confidence reports.

UK construction output data is expected to show a 0.5% increase year-on-year in April, while Eurozone industrial production is forecast to have risen 1.1% in April compared to a year ago.

Later in the session, the US sees the release of the University of Michigan's index on consumer confidence which is projected to increase to 91.4 in June from 90.7 previously.

In company news, GlaxoSmithKline announced that the advisory committee of the US Food and Drug Administration has recommended the biologics licence application (BLA) for its Mepolizumab drug for the treatment of adults with severe asthma.

Segro has exchanged contracts with M&G Real Estate to dissolve The Heathrow Big Box Industrial and Distribution Fund (HBB) ahead of its termination date in June 2016.

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