London pre-open: Failed Greek talks to hit stocks early on

UK stocks were expected to fall on Tuesday morning, as heightened concerns about a Greek exit from the Eurozone dampen sentiment.

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open 20 points lower than Monday’s close of 6,857.05.

A meeting of Eurozone finance ministers on Monday ended early with no agreement over what to do about Greek debt, as the nation’s new government stood firm on its opposition to the terms of its current bailout.

Analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets said: “Even though expectations were low with respect to yesterday’s Eurogroup meeting of EU finance ministers, with no realistic prospect of a positive outcome, as both sides try and push the limits of what they are prepared to accept, or not accept, I think most people still thought that the talks would last well into the evening, as is the norm with these events.”

Leaders have now failed in the past two meetings to make any progress and the current aid agreement is due to expire at the end of the month. The Eurogroup will meet again on Friday.

“This Friday appears to be a hard deadline for any extension as governments across Eurozone will need time to approve it in their parliaments by the end of the month when the existing programme expires,” said analysts at Barclays.

Stocks to watch

Intercontinental Hotels Group managed to narrowly beat analysts’ forecasts with a smaller-than-expected decline in annual profits, as it predicted a “continued strong performance” in 2015. The Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn operator said reported operating profit for 2014 totalled $651m, down 3% on the $668m reported the year before but slightly ahead of the consensus estimate of $646m.

Oil and gas engineer John Wood Group grew sales and profits by double-digit rates last year and said it expected to remain resilient and deliver growth despite the lower oil price environment. Revenue from continuing operations spurted 14.3% to $6.57bn, with profits from continuing operations before tax and exceptional items rising 10.9% at $414.5m and adjusted diluted earnings per share up 1% to 99.6 cents.

HICL Infrastructure Company unveiled a new French investment on Tuesday. The company said it has bought an 85% ownership interest in the Ecole Centrale Supelex PPP Project after reaching financial close on Monday.