Market overview: Stocks higher on Chinese stimulus

1630:Close Shares ended higher on the back of the new stimulus measures launched by Beijing over the weekend, with global miners pacing gains on the top flight index – although Chinese stocks and metals´ prices were lower at the end of their respective trading days. Rio Tinto, which was set to unveil a quarterly operational review on Monday night and BHP, which was scheduled to do the same on Wednesday, were near the top of the leaderboard at the close. Acting as a backdrop, 10-year Greek sovereign bond yields continued to climb as worries grew that Athens may finally be pushed to the brink of a debt default or worse, although an exit from the Eurozone was still not considered the most likely endgame, according to analysts at RBS. FTSE 100 up 57.50 points to 7,052.13.

1447: Greece has issued a decree forcing local governments to deposit their cash balances with the country´s central bank. Some market commentary holds that could net Athens €2bn in additional liquidity to meet payments to the country´s international creditors.

1330: Three-month copper futures are off 1.2% to $6,007.50 per metric tonne on the LME.

1302: Excluding so-called debt valuation adjustments US banking heavyweight Morgan Stanley announced a quarterly net profit of $1.14 per share, well ahead of the 78 cents forecast by analysts. Revenues improved to reach $9.91bn up from $9.19bn in the year ago quarter. Shares of the bank were up 2.18% to reach $37.55 before the opening bell.

1102: With nothing having been achieved by Athens in the last few week in the way of reforms several senior Eurozone officials now believe a referendum in Greece on adhering to international creditors´s demands is now the most likely scenario, The Wall Street Journal´s Simon Nixon writes. That could see considerable financial tensions erupt in periphery markets. Greek 10-year sovereign bond yields are rising by 20 basis points to 11.03%. FTSE 100 up 39.91points to 7,034.41 points.

1000: Barclays ups target price on Ashtead to 1,405p from 1,289p.

0959: Stock in Intercontinental Hotels Group is higher on residual market chatter regarding a possible takeover offer surfacing soon.

0901: UK stocks have started the morning higher following a reduction in China´s reserve requirement ratio for banks over the weekend. The minimum 100 basis point reduction was the largest since 2008. Miners were in the lead early on, led by gains in Anglo American and Rio Tinto. No major economic releases are expected today. FTSE 100 up 61.02 points to 7,055.52.