London open: Stocks continue to advance on Greek hopes

UK stocks advanced again on Tuesday morning, extending the strong rally seen the previous session as hopes over a short-term funding deal for Greece continued to increase.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.18% at 6,837.85 after a 1.7% jump on Monday.

Optimism surrounding Athens picked up on Monday following a last-minute proposal by Greece’s government at the weekend. While an emergency EU summit failed to result in a new cash-for-reforms agreement, leaders expressed hopes that a deal will be struck this week.

“Things have gotten off to a similarly strong, if less spectacular, start this Tuesday morning, continuing Monday’s staggering gains as Greek debt talks enter their healthiest period in months,” said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.

On Tuesday’s agenda will be a raft of purchasing managers’ indices from Europe, including the overall composite PMI for the Eurozone which is expected to fall to 53.5 in June from 53.6.

Overnight, the Chinese manufacturing PMI by HSBC improved to 49.6 in June from 49.2, beating the 49.4 estimate.

US durable goods orders, US new home sales and the Markit US manufacturing PMI will also be released during the session.

Ladbrokes jumps on Gala Coral deal

In response to recent press speculation, Ladbrokes confirmed that it is in mergers talks with the board of Gala Coral. Ladbrokes said they two are in discussions regarding a possible merger of Ladbrokes and Coral Retail, Eurobet Retail and Gala Coral’s online businesses, sending shares in the FTSE 250 bookie chain surging early on.

Distribution and outsourcing business Bunzl disappointed with a slowdown in organic growth in the second quarter. The group also announced that it has acquired four businesses in the US, Colombia, Canada and France.

Oilfield services outfit Petrofac gained after saying that additional costs tied to the development of its flagship project in the Shetland Islands would be partially offset by tax provisions.

Telecoms giant Vodafone was in demand after analysts at Nomura lifted their recommendation to ‘buy’ and hiked their target price from 235p to 290p.

Associated British Foods was trading in the red after RBC Capital markets downgraded the stock to ‘sector performer’, while Sports Direct was boosted by the same broker to ‘outperform’.

Market Movers
techMARK 3,214.94 +0.53%
FTSE 100 6,837.85 +0.18%
FTSE 250 17,979.90 +0.41%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Sports Direct International (SPD) 724.50p +3.13%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,230.00p +2.44%
Sage Group (SGE) 551.00p +1.94%
Diageo (DGE) 1,937.50p +1.60%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 557.50p +1.55%
Meggitt (MGGT) 474.00p +1.37%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,767.00p +1.36%
3i Group (III) 546.50p +1.20%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,100.00p +1.20%
Fresnillo (FRES) 711.50p +1.14%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Bunzl (BNZL) 1,860.00p -1.64%
Anglo American (AAL) 985.40p -0.97%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,746.00p -0.87%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,070.00p -0.78%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,166.00p -0.46%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,341.00p -0.41%
National Grid (NG.) 857.50p -0.41%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,445.00p -0.41%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,867.50p -0.40%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 524.50p -0.38%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Ladbrokes (LAD) 134.50p +10.16%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 951.00p +9.37%
Hunting (HTG) 670.00p +7.46%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 849.50p +3.47%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 430.50p +2.52%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 561.00p +2.00%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 448.50p +1.96%
Greene King (GNK) 850.50p +1.86%
RPC Group (RPC) 667.50p +1.83%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 401.00p +1.54%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Evraz (EVR) 143.30p -2.38%
Lonmin (LMI) 126.20p -2.17%
Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 159.80p -1.36%
Rank Group (RNK) 213.30p -1.30%
AO World (AO.) 145.20p -1.22%
Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 67.60p -1.17%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 469.80p -1.16%
Foxtons Group (FOXT) 259.50p -1.11%
Polymetal International (POLY) 544.50p -1.00%
Indivior (INDV) 233.00p -0.94%