London midday: Stocks erase gains as ongoing Greek debt saga hits sentiment

After briefly coming close to their intraday record high, UK stocks dropped into the red by Tuesday lunchtime after data showed that the Greek debt saga was weighing on economic confidence in Germany.

Heavy falls in the mining sector were also hitting markets, offsetting well-received quarterly earnings from blue chips Sky and ARM Holdings.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.15% at 7,041.35 by midday, retreating after having touched a high of 7,105.13 early on, just short of the intraday record high of 7,119.35 reached last Thursday.

Concerns about Greece were continuing to dominate market sentiment on Tuesday after reports that the European Central Bank is looking into measures to rein in emergency liquidity assistance to Greek banks. It is understood policymakers have proposed increasing the haircuts banks take on the collateral they post when borrowing from the Bank of Greece.

Athens on Monday issued a decree that requires local governments to transfer balances to the central bank. The Greek government owes the International Monetary Fund debt repayments on 1 May and 12 May.

"Athens has been hoovering up any spare cash from local authorities to show the ECB it means business; however, this is the political equivalent of collecting coins that have fallen down the back of the couch, but it may save them yet," said IG analyst David Madden.

Things were quiet in terms of economic data on Tuesday, with the German ZEW survey the only major release of the morning. Economic confidence in Germany registered an unexpected decline in April with the headline sentiment index falling by 1.5 points to 53.3, missing the 0.5 improvement predicted.

"The decline in the ZEW follows this month’s fall in the German Sentix investor sentiment index, implying that the worsening Greek crisis is starting to take a toll," said Jennifer McKeown, senior European economist at Capital Economics.

Sky and ARM impress, miners fall

Third-quarter results from Sky generated the most growth in 11 years, as near 70% growth in new customers fed through to a 20% increase in operating profits. The broadband and pay-TV group were topping the leaderboard on the FTSE 100, up 5%.

Also firmly higher was smartphone and tablet microchip designer ARM Holdings which beat its own guidance with a 14% jump in dollar revenues in the first quarter of 2015. The company also gave an upbeat outlook, saying that dollar revenues for the full year should be "at least in line with current market expectations".

Lower commodity prices were weighing on stocks in the mining and oil sectors, which were pulling back after a decent performance on Monday. Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Shell and Glencore were among the worst performers.

Rio Tinto and Anglo American were under the cosh in London as analysts at Barclays Capital lowered their recommendations on both stocks after slashing their commodity prices forecasts across the board.

Associated British Foods dropped after profits fell in the first half as the surging performance of its Primark fast-fashion chain was outweighed by a weaker sugar business. Adjusted operating profits were down 5% to £474m.

Brewing group SABMiller was hit with a downgrade by Credit Suisse from 'neutral' to 'underperform', with the bank saying that its premium valuation is "unwarranted". The bank also quashed ongoing M&A speculation regarding Belgian brewer AB Inbev, saying that SABMiller is unlikely to be a bid target at current levels.

Kingfisher was lowered from 'hold' to 'sell' over at Investec, with the broker saying it sees no sign of a recovery at the DIY retailer any time soon.

Market Movers
techMARK 3,224.05 +0.41%
FTSE 100 7,041.35 -0.15%
FTSE 250 17,635.47 +0.18%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Sky (SKY) 1,104.00p +4.94%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,196.00p +4.00%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,150.00p +2.13%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,168.00p +2.10%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,847.00p +1.82%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 581.50p +1.75%
BT Group (BT.A) 459.95p +1.53%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,661.00p +1.45%
WPP (WPP) 1,565.00p +1.36%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,822.00p +1.29%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,744.00p -4.16%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,006.50p -3.03%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,805.00p -2.40%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,451.00p -2.06%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 556.00p -1.33%
Barclays (BARC) 254.05p -1.24%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,867.00p -1.22%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 417.10p -1.21%
Aviva (AV.) 536.00p -1.11%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,331.00p -1.04%

FTSE 250 - Risers
International Personal Finance (IPF) 501.50p +5.58%
Just Eat (JE.) 460.20p +3.37%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 452.10p +2.66%
Aveva Group (AVV) 1,614.00p +2.54%
Investec (INVP) 610.00p +2.26%
Redrow (RDW) 377.60p +2.25%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 167.40p +2.07%
Rightmove (RMV) 3,146.00p +1.94%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,994.00p +1.89%
Bodycote (BOY) 707.00p +1.87%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 868.00p -4.88%
Premier Oil (PMO) 165.80p -4.22%
Lonmin (LMI) 130.50p -4.04%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 297.90p -2.55%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 556.00p -2.46%
Evraz (EVR) 188.00p -2.39%
Serco Group (SRP) 140.50p -2.29%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 280.30p -2.27%
FirstGroup (FGP) 97.95p -2.00%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 230.20p -1.96%