London open: Traders watching Greece, US jobs

UK stocks started the morning on the back foot after Greece missed the €300m payment it was due to make to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

As of 09:36 the FTSE 100 was falling by 53.64 points to 6,805.24.

Instead, the troubled country has decided to pay its outstanding debt in one payment at the end of the month. Greek leaders continue to be locked in talks to reach an agreement on the terms of a deal that would unlock the last tranche of its bailout deal.

That comes ahead of the release of the latest US non-farm payrolls figures which are due to be are unveiled in the afternoon, as investors Stateside look for clues over the timing of the first rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

Economists estimate the US economy added 227,000 jobs in May compared to 223,000 in April. If their forecasts for more growth in jobs are met, it may help to cement expectations the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates come September.

“Despite the bearish trading atmosphere as regards indices, the hammering the dollar is getting has helped the US futures hold back more excessive losses,” said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.

“It will be interesting to see how this situation manifests itself once the latest jobless claims and revised non-farm productivity data are released.

“Another high figure in the former should extend the dollar declines and therefore, in theory, push the Dow into the green.”
The unemployment rate is estimated to hold at 5.4% in May.

In company news, Lloyds Banking Group has been fined £117m by the Financial Conduct Authority for mishandling compensation payouts for mis-sold payment protection insurance. The bank said that it will reduce bonuses paid to staff by around £30m as a result.

Bellway said in an interim management statement that a strong trading performance was expected to result in the full year operating margin increasing by around 300 bps to over 20%, up from 17.2% in 2014. Exceptional profit will total £6.9m thanks to the disposal of the company's entire portfolio of shared equity assets for £32.5m. Its forward sales position was "strong", it said, with growth of 22% in the value of the forward order book to £1,270m.

Retailer Halfords reported group revenues of £1,004.9m, reaching its one billion pound target a year ahead of schedule, thanks in part to strong online retail sales. Earnings per share climbed 13.8%, net debt was reduced to £61.8m and the proposed full-year dividend per share was raised 15.4% to 16.5p.

Market Movers
techMARK 3,236.46 -0.97%
FTSE 100 6,798.57 -0.88%
FTSE 250 17,949.05 -0.78%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Anglo American (AAL) 1,013.00p +0.80%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 174.00p -2.41%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 242.75p -2.16%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,012.00p -2.14%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 184.90p -1.91%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 594.00p -1.74%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 468.90p -1.72%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,962.00p -1.65%
Schroders (SDR) 3,287.00p -1.62%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 569.50p -1.56%
Prudential (PRU) 1,584.00p -1.55%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Allied Minds (ALM) 609.00p +1.67%
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) 1,037.00p +1.67%
Poundland Group (PLND) 300.60p +1.55%
Fidelity European Values (FEV) 187.00p +1.30%
Premier Farnell (PFL) 193.50p +1.10%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,188.00p +1.02%
Halfords Group (HFD) 489.10p +0.95%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 307.40p +0.92%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 613.00p +0.91%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,997.00p +0.86%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Betfair Group (BET) 2,527.00p -4.46%
BTG (BTG) 687.00p -2.90%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 540.50p -2.26%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 372.80p -2.15%
Rightmove (RMV) 3,226.00p -1.92%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 772.00p -1.91%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 416.10p -1.86%
Bellway (BWY) 2,325.00p -1.82%
Premier Oil (PMO) 162.80p -1.81%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 1,094.00p -1.80%