London close: Stocks drop on lack of fresh Greek proposals

Failure by Greece to present a new cash-for-reforms package to Eurozone finance ministers sent UK stocks firmly lower on Tuesday, with heavyweight mining shares bearing the brunt of an aversion to risk and sell-off in metal prices.

Despite hopes that Athens would table a new plan an at emergency summit in Brussels were dashed in the afternoon session after officials turned up empty-handed, prompting a sharp slide on the FTSE 100 and an even steep fall across European indices.

Nevertheless, the Footsie still dropped 103.47 points (-1.58%) to 6,432.21, reaching a level not seen since 16 January.

Recent reports suggested that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras would present a economic package to the Eurogroup on Wednesday instead, but that did little to lift sentiment on the markets.

"Turning up in Brussels without fresh proposals and instead promising them tomorrow is perhaps the best way to ensure that any new ideas get a cold reception," said IG analyst Chris Beauchamp. "Greece’s government now appears intent on leaving, and if they carry on in this fashion, the rest of the Eurozone will be happy to show them the door."

Speaking to reporters outside the meeting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there was still no basis for negotiations and warned that time was running out: "It’s not a matter of weeks any more, it’s a matter of days."

Defensives gain, miners sold off as risk appetite wanes

Defensive stocks such as property giants Land Securities and British Land, pharma giant Astrazeneca and tobacco group Imperial were among the few risers on the FTSE 100.Land Securities was also boosted by a UBS upgrade from 'neutral' to 'buy'.

On the other hand, mining stocks dominated the fallers including Anglo American, Glencore, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Randgold Resources.

Oil producers such as BP and Shell were also trading lower as crude prices extended one of the steepest sell-offs this year. West Texas Intermediate and Brent were both falling again on Tuesday after giving up 8% and 6% on Monday respectively.

Rolls-Royce was a heavy faller on the blue chip index as shares continued to fall after the engine maker disappointed the market on Monday with its third profit warning in 18 months. Espirito Santo and JPMorgan both downgraded their recommendations on the stock on Tuesday.

Chipmaker ARM Holdings was in demand, albeit well below its highs of the day, after Morgan Stanley upgraded it to an ‘overweight’ rating.

Marks & Spencer erased earlier gains despite first-quarter sales coming in better than City analysts had feared, with clothing like-for-like sales down just 0.4% compared with the -1% forecast.

Also among the fallers was Weir Group after announcing the acquisition of US-based Delta Industrial Valves for an enterprise value of up to $47m, and Smiths Group as it underwhelmed investors with the appointment of a new CEO.

Market Movers
techMARK 3,066.39 -1.08%
FTSE 100 6,432.21 -1.58%
FTSE 250 17,212.93 -1.32%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,250.00p +1.63%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,590.00p +0.89%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 488.00p +0.78%
British Land Company (BLND) 805.00p +0.75%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,178.00p +0.70%
National Grid (NG.) 825.90p +0.23%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,094.00p +0.03%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Glencore (GLEN) 230.60p -6.87%
Anglo American (AAL) 832.30p -5.76%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 759.50p -5.36%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,582.00p -5.04%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,085.00p -4.91%
Fresnillo (FRES) 655.50p -4.59%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 642.50p -3.96%
St James's Place (STJ) 875.50p -3.84%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,492.50p -3.32%
Standard Life (SL.) 425.60p -3.27%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Supergroup (SGP) 1,289.00p +1.50%
Rank Group (RNK) 228.20p +1.42%
AO World (AO.) 131.60p +1.23%
Mitie Group (MTO) 313.30p +1.20%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 2,072.00p +1.12%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,790.00p +1.05%
Victrex plc (VCT) 1,909.00p +1.01%
Just Eat (JE.) 384.00p +1.00%
Cranswick (CWK) 1,610.00p +0.94%
Saga (SAGA) 217.20p +0.88%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 183.50p -7.51%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 296.20p -7.38%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 589.50p -6.87%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 831.00p -6.73%
Lonmin (LMI) 99.40p -6.67%
Premier Oil (PMO) 133.10p -6.47%
Polymetal International (POLY) 483.80p -5.69%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 298.10p -5.66%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 237.70p -5.19%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 956.50p -4.92%