London midday: Stocks rise as Greece agrees deal with creditors

UK equities advanced on Wednesday as Greece’s creditors have agreed a deal to unlock a further €10.3bn in bailout funds to ease the country’s debt burden.

After an 11-hour meeting in Brussels, Eurozone ministers and the International Monetary Fund came to a deal to release the fresh loans to Greece after agreeing the nation had met its obligations through economic reforms.

The IMF also signalled that it could join the bailout by the end of 2016 following a debt-sustainability analysis.

“Given the regularity of Greece in the headlines over the years, it’s much too early and possibly delusional to believe that this debt crisis is behind us,” said London Capital Group head analyst Brenda Kelly.

“But can kicking is a strategy of sorts.”

A report showing an improvement in German consumer confidence also gave the market a boost. GfK’s forward-looking consumer sentiment index unexpectedly rose to 9.8 in June from 9.7 the previous month.

The IFO’s German business confidence index rose to 107.7 in May from 106.6, beating estimates of 106.8.

Still to come, the US house price index at 1400 BST, Markit’s US services purchasing managers’ index at 1445 BST and government data on US weekly crude inventories at 1530 BST.

Meanwhile, oil prices gained after the American Petroleum Institute reported US crude stocks dropped by 5.1m barrels last week.

Brent crude rose 1.15% to $49.18 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate increased 1.01% to $49.12 per barrel at 1100 BST.

Among corporate stocks, Marks & Spencer’s shares plunged as the retailer posted an 18.5% drop in full year pre-tax profits and as chief executive Steve Rowe announced plans to lower clothing prices which may hit short-term profit.

Intertek was also in the red after saying its resource-related business continued to suffer from challenging markets in the first four months of the year.

Royal Mail gained after Ofcom decided against imposing new price controls on the postal service’s wholesale or retail products following a review of the regulation of the company.

Serco Group jumped after the outsourcing company said it expects underlying trading profit for 2016 to be ahead of current market forecasts following a stronger-than-anticipated start to the year.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,261.04 0.67%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,193.56 0.34%
techMARK (TASX) 3,112.66 0.46%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 255.30p 4.08%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 447.85p 3.13%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,562.00p 2.90%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 544.50p 2.45%
CRH (CRH) 2,098.00p 2.34%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,671.00p 2.02%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 546.10p 1.88%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,723.00p 1.72%
3i Group (III) 534.00p 1.52%
Aviva (AV.) 456.60p 1.51%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 409.10p -8.01%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,148.00p -4.52%
Tesco (TSCO) 166.25p -2.78%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 204.70p -2.66%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,745.00p -2.38%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,100.00p -2.05%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,021.00p -1.92%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 590.50p -1.50%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,187.00p -1.25%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 631.00p -1.17%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Serco Group (SRP) 102.40p 11.91%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 335.20p 9.15%
Paysafe Group (PAYS) 420.00p 7.75%
Regus (RGU) 320.70p 5.70%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 310.50p 3.50%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 2,587.00p 3.48%
Pennon Group (PNN) 867.50p 3.09%
Polypipe Group (PLP) 324.20p 2.92%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 265.20p 2.87%
Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 307.90p 2.63%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

DFS Furniture (DFS) 301.60p -4.13%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 309.50p -3.73%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 102.30p -3.49%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 858.00p -3.21%
AO World (AO.) 169.70p -3.03%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 308.70p -2.50%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 250.60p -2.41%
Redrow (RDW) 419.00p -2.19%
Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 114.00p -2.06%
Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 782.00p -1.82%