London midday: UK stocks drop as Greek negotiations hit rough patch

The UK stock market was firmly in the red on Friday as jitters about ongoing Greek debt talks continued to weigh on sentiment.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.61% at 6,805.13 by midday after the International Monetary Fund's technical team quit discussions due to a lack of progress from Athens.

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.

"A lack of progress in the Greek debt talks has seen the IMF throw in the towel and head home, leaving Greece´s confident prognosis about discussions looking very hollow," said IG analyst Alastair McCaig.

A report in newspaper Bild has also worried investors after suggesting that German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s advisers are holding discussions on how to deal with a Greek default.

In economic data on Friday, the Office for National Statistics said it had revised up its historic estimates for construction output, meaning that UK GDP probably expanded by 3.1% in 2014 instead of the initially reported 2.8%.

Meanwhile, investors will be on the lookout for producer price index numbers from the States later on, along with the preliminary estimate of the University of Michigan consumer confidence index.

Petra and Bwin drop

Shares in Petra Diamonds slumped 9% after the company said that full-year revenues are likely to be lower than expected due to reduced prices for diamonds. Petra said it now expects to report revenue of $430m, which is below market expectations of about $450m.

Gambling outfit Bwin.party also dropped around 9% after two of its largest shareholders, Emerald Bay and Stinson Ridge, sold 50m shares. Bwin’s board was not party to the placing arrangements, but the company said they were consistent with the trustees’ obligations to sell down their holdings before the end of October 2015.

Oil and gas stocks were mostly lower, including heavyweight producer Royal Dutch Shell, as Brent crude fell 0.63% to $64.70 a barrel.

Catering group Compass is on the decline after Exane BNP Paribas downgraded the stock to 'neutral', while Bernstein was weighing on shares of Severn Trent and United Utilities after cutting the stocks to ‘market perform’.

Market Movers

techMARK 3,200.82 -0.31%
FTSE 100 6,805.13 -0.61%
FTSE 250 17,987.98 -0.56%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Royal Mail (RMG) 506.00p +2.57%
BT Group (BT.A) 452.10p +1.17%
ITV (ITV) 267.80p +0.45%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,325.00p +0.38%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,277.00p +0.31%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,010.50p +0.30%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 729.50p +0.27%
Barclays (BARC) 269.45p +0.26%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,580.00p +0.25%
Glencore (GLEN) 281.90p +0.23%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,905.00p -2.86%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,136.00p -2.00%
Kingfisher (KGF) 376.40p -1.72%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,845.00p -1.65%
CRH (CRH) 1,855.00p -1.59%
Unilever (ULVR) 2,804.00p -1.58%
St James's Place (STJ) 886.50p -1.55%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,207.00p -1.55%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,896.00p -1.51%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 260.10p -1.48%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,720.00p +2.05%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,869.00p +1.92%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 832.50p +1.77%
Synergy Health (SYR) 1,784.00p +1.65%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 603.50p +1.43%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 305.70p +1.16%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,636.00p +1.11%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,173.00p +1.03%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 166.10p +1.03%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 283.10p +0.78%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 155.50p -8.74%
Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 95.90p -8.67%
Lonmin (LMI) 132.50p -5.15%
Card Factory (CARD) 350.10p -4.60%
Evraz (EVR) 154.00p -3.87%
Soco International (SIA) 178.90p -2.77%
Serco Group (SRP) 126.20p -2.55%
AO World (AO.) 149.30p -2.42%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 796.50p -2.39%
Greencore Group (GNC) 319.50p -2.26%