London open: Stocks wavering as Economists less worried about Greek fallout

London stocks started the morning moderately lower after Greece's anti-austerity Syriza party came within a whisker of gaining an outright majority in Sunday's elections, although various economists seemed sanguine that even under a worst case scenario the threat to the Eurozone as a whole was rather limited given the financial reforms put in place over the last few years.

By 09:15 the FTSE 100 had pepped up and was marginally in positive territory, trading 2.18 points higher at 6,835.01.

Following an initial bout of weakness the euro/dollar was also to be seen higher, appreciating by 0.89% to stand at 1.1246.

In a statement following last night's Greek elections Germany’s finance ministry reiterated that finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble’s stance was unchanged.

It read: “The agreements reached with Greece remain valid.”

Economists expect little volatility as a result of elections

On Sunday Erik Nielsen, global chief economist at Unicredit Bank, wrote: “A disaster scenario, which would lead Greece onto a slippery slope out of the Eurozone, cannot be excluded.

"Breaking with Europe would be a terrible move for Greece – but the rest of the Eurozone, particularly as the ECB has already announced the opening shot of QE, will skate through with only temporary and minor volatility.”

The Eurozone's finance minsiters were expected to broach the situation in the Mediterranen country when they met later on Monday. The yield on Greek 10-year sovereign bonds was higher by 22 basis points to 8.72%.

Copper futures on the other hand were coming under heavy selling pressure, surrendering over 3% to change hands at $5,345 a ton in London - close to their lowest level since July 2009.

The Russian rouble was also taking a hit after fighting in Ukraine engulfed the port city of Mariupol over the weekend.

Germany's IFO institute was set to release its widely-followed gauge of business confidence, for the month of January, at 09:00.

Corporate news

Rolls-Royce has been awarded a contract to supply engines for major Chinese locomotive manufacturer CNR Dalian, marking its entry into that country's market for freight locomotives for export. The british engineer is to deliver 232 of its MTU Series 400 engines to CNR, the most powerful ones in that model series. They will be used in Transnet Freight Rail's new locomotives which the South African operator is in the process of upgrading.

IAG, the owner of British Airways, will reportedly announce that Irish airline Aer Lingus has accepted its recent takeover bid. The Irish carrier confirmed on Sunday that it was considering a new offer of €2.50 per share in a move which values it at €1.3bn. The FTSE 100 group may, however, face difficulties getting Irish officials to agree to the takover.

Energy supplier SSE has announced a 4.1% cut to its gas prices from 30 April and said its full-year results would be in line with expectations but warned of continuing challenging business conditions in its new financial year.

Diamond mine operator Petra Diamonds saw sales jump by 16% in the first six months of the year, to reach $214.8m, but warned that it may not meet analysts' expectations for full-year profits. The miner's increased sales in the period were in part thanks to the sale of two exceptional diamonds for a combined revenue of $38.7m.

Executives at Aveva are finding it hard to see through the debris left behind by the oil price collapse, the company said on 26 January. In a trading statement covering the period between 1 October of 2014 and 23 January of 2015 the engineering and design technology company said that: "We are experiencing increased uncertainty and reduced visibility in the Oil & Gas market". That segment accounts for 45% of the firm's revenues.

techMARK 3,099.45 +0.27%
FTSE 100 6,823.32 -0.14%
FTSE 250 16,418.92 -0.24%

FTSE 100 - Risers
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 554.00p +3.36%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,976.00p +3.32%
SSE (SSE) 1,517.00p +1.68%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,762.00p +1.56%
Aviva (AV.) 544.00p +1.40%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,107.00p +1.28%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,354.00p +1.12%
Friends Life Group Limited (FLG) 411.30p +1.06%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,162.00p +1.04%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,111.00p +1.01%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,381.00p -3.09%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,071.50p -2.90%
Glencore (GLEN) 242.65p -2.71%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 361.80p -2.56%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,822.50p -2.10%
BG Group (BG.) 878.40p -1.49%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 675.00p -1.39%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,345.00p -1.38%
BP (BP.) 426.65p -1.33%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 196.50p -1.31%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,407.00p +2.16%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 2,540.00p +2.01%
Indivior (INDV) 168.90p +1.99%
AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 924.50p +1.71%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 430.20p +1.63%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 204.70p +1.49%
Betfair Group (BET) 1,573.00p +1.48%
Alent (ALNT) 380.00p +1.39%
UBM (UBM) 535.00p +1.13%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 442.20p +1.12%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 168.50p -6.65%
Hunting (HTG) 432.60p -6.04%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 979.50p -5.64%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 410.00p -4.65%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,350.00p -3.43%
Afren (AFR) 19.08p -3.39%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 173.20p -2.97%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 191.50p -2.84%
Premier Oil (PMO) 140.00p -2.78%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 271.00p -2.66%