London midday: Rolls-Royce, commodity stocks lead FTSE lower after Greek 'no' vote

Nevertheless, while stock markets across Europe were suffering steep losses - German, Spanish and French shares were down 1.3-1.8% while Italian equities fell 2.6% - downside in the UK was limited.

The FTSE 100 was trading 0.58% lower at 6,547.29 by midday, bouncing back off an earlier low of 6,506.71.

With 61.3% of the public voting 'no’ in Sunday’s referendum, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said it had ammunition to go back to the negotiating table, saying: “The mandate you’ve given me does not call for a break with Europe, but rather gives me greater negotiating strength.”

Despite the ‘no’ vote, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis surprised many with his decision to resign. He had promised to step down if the public voted ‘yes’, but claimed on Monday morning that his resignation would aid Tsipras when dealing with Greece’s lenders.

An emergency euro summit has been arranged for Tuesday evening.

Rolls-Royce tumbles, miners weaken

Aerospace manufacturer Rolls-Royce shares dropped 9% after a profit warning, which the company said reflected a deterioration in offshore markets. The company said in a statement it expected full year profit to be between £1.325m-£1.475m, compared to previous guidance of £1.4m-£1.55m.

Mining stocks were out of favour, including Antofagasta, Glencore, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Anglo American.

Citigroup was weighing on the share price of telecoms group BT after cutting its rating from ‘buy’ to ‘neutral', citing risks from a shifting regulatory scene.

Heading the other way was postal operator Royal Mail after Goldman Sachs boosted its target price for the stock to 610p from 585p, saying it expects to seen an improvement in underlying profitability. Goldman maintained a ‘buy’ rating.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley boosted BAE Systems from ‘equalweight’ to ‘overweight’.

Budget airline EasyJet edged higher after reporting that it carried 6.56m passengers in June of this year, nearly 8% more than in the same month last year. The load factor, which measures how full the plane is, was 92.7%, up just a touch from 92%.

Market Movers
techMARK 3,105.40 -0.29%
FTSE 100 6,547.29 -0.58%
FTSE 250 17,488.34 -0.71%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Royal Mail (RMG) 512.00p +1.39%
SSE (SSE) 1,574.00p +1.03%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 543.50p +0.93%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 644.00p +0.70%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 887.50p +0.57%
Pearson (PSON) 1,228.00p +0.57%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,062.00p +0.57%
Centrica (CNA) 267.30p +0.56%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,101.00p +0.52%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,101.00p +0.43%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 779.50p -8.99%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,021.00p -2.76%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,681.00p -2.21%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 351.60p -2.14%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 669.50p -1.83%
Schroders (SDR) 3,119.00p -1.73%
Glencore (GLEN) 248.40p -1.68%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,116.00p -1.67%
Barclays (BARC) 258.55p -1.67%
GKN (GKN) 327.50p -1.59%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Bellway (BWY) 2,447.00p +2.26%
Grainger (GRI) 229.80p +1.95%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 1,161.00p +1.75%
Just Retirement Group (JRG) 175.00p +1.51%
SSP Group (SSPG) 289.50p +1.22%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 565.00p +1.16%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,201.00p +1.01%
AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 950.00p +0.96%
Countrywide (CWD) 566.50p +0.89%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 572.50p +0.88%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Vedanta Resources (VED) 482.50p -5.02%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 195.40p -3.55%
Man Group (EMG) 147.20p -3.35%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 323.10p -3.15%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 285.60p -3.12%
Hunting (HTG) 527.50p -2.94%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 128.20p -2.81%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 143.20p -2.45%
Hays (HAS) 159.10p -2.39%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 432.80p -2.26%