London close: Resource stocks fall with markets cautious ahead of Greek meeting

UK stocks declined for the fourth day on Wednesday with oil and mining stocks bearing the brunt of the selling pressure as investors scaled back their appetite for risk ahead of a pivotal meeting about Greece.

London's FTSE 100 finished the session down 0.2% at 6,818, with blue-chip oil group Tullow dropping sharply after suspending its dividend payment. Other oil stocks were also weaker as crude prices sank.

"The tone in global markets has remained cautious all day," said Chris Beauchamp from IG.

All eyes were on an emergency meeting of Eurogroup finance ministers in Brussels, which kicked off at 16.30, where Greece's Yanis Varoufakis makes his debut appearance as he argues for better terms for the country's debt deal.

After meeting with Varoufakis, International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde told reporters: "They are competent, intelligent, they’ve thought about their issues."

On Tuesday evening, Greece’s new prime minister Alexis Tsipras comfortably won a confidence vote in parliament, assuring MPs that “there is no going back […] Greece cannot return to the era of bailouts”.

Beauchamp said: "Both sides are firmly entrenched, and the weary truth of the matter is that the Eurozone, financial markets and investors will all need to go through several rounds of negotiation, before time pressures finally force some kind of compromise."

Tullow suspends divi, Redrow jumps

Shares in Tullow Oil sank 7% after the oil group decided to suspend its final dividend for 2014, as the exploration and production company swung to a loss of over $2bn on the back of hefty impairment charges and exploration write-offs.

The wider oil sector was also weaker as stocks tracked Brent lower after data showed that US crude inventories rose 4.87m barrels last week to a new high of 417.9m barrels, more than forecasts. Brent was down 2.6% at $54.97 a barrels by the end of the session, pressuring BG Group, Shell and Premier Oil lower.

Mining stocks were also under the weather, including Anglo American, Randgold Resources and BHP Billiton. Glencore however edged higher after the announcement that it has scaled back its spending plans for 2015, although shares in Lonmin dropped after Glencore said it is looking to divest its “non-core” 23.9% stake in the platinum miner.

One bright spark was builder Redrow after the company impressed with a 92% jump in half-year profits, driven by strong demand for new homes and welcomed changes to the stamp-duty system. Sector peers Crest Nicholson, Persimmon, Bellway and Barratt Developments.

Data centres group Telecity Group also surged after agreeing a merger with New York-listed rival Interxion, as it reported a target-hitting set of final results and a new share buyback programme.

BT Group and Sky were heading in opposite directions in the aftermath of the auction for future Premier League rights. BT rose after winning two out of seven packages of rights on offer and will pay 30% more than its current contract, while BT fell after saying it would be spending 83% more for the remaining five packages.

Cillit Bang, Dettol and Durex manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser gained as it delivered fourth-quarter net revenue growth of 5% to £2.3bn, comfortably ahead of forecasts.

Market Movers
techMARK 3,109.53 +0.49%
FTSE 100 6,818.17 -0.16%
FTSE 250 16,632.60 -0.16%

FTSE 100 - Risers
BT Group (BT.A) 460.00p +3.65%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,671.00p +3.60%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,775.00p +3.31%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,087.00p +2.94%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 986.00p +2.65%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 471.90p +2.65%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 552.50p +2.50%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 140.00p +2.26%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,765.00p +1.55%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,364.00p +1.51%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Tullow Oil (TLW) 384.60p -7.17%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 968.00p -2.76%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 179.80p -2.34%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,123.50p -2.22%
Sky (SKY) 933.00p -2.20%
BG Group (BG.) 914.70p -2.10%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,135.00p -1.72%
Royal Mail (RMG) 424.90p -1.69%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,165.00p -1.60%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,032.00p -1.49%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Redrow (RDW) 345.00p +16.24%
Telecity Group (TCY) 978.00p +15.26%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 929.50p +7.21%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 444.00p +4.23%
Pennon Group (PNN) 850.00p +2.66%
Bellway (BWY) 1,916.00p +2.46%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 186.00p +2.20%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 885.00p +2.02%
COLT Group SA (COLT) 146.50p +2.02%
William Hill (WMH) 384.50p +1.88%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Lonmin (LMI) 158.10p -8.29%
Poundland Group (PLND) 387.50p -7.05%
Premier Oil (PMO) 155.50p -6.38%
Hunting (HTG) 476.90p -5.66%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 125.90p -5.48%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 200.60p -5.15%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 525.00p -4.81%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 137.30p -4.79%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,100.00p -4.51%
RPS Group (RPS) 221.20p -3.99%