London close: Stocks snap five-day winning streak as Greek hopes fade

UK stock markets finished in the red for the first time in six days on Thursday after another Eurogroup meeting failed to result in a deal for Greece, leaving Athens one step closer to defaulting on its debts.

The FTSE 100, which had hit a high of 6,869.04 in morning trade, settled 36.98 points lower (-0.54%) at 6,807.82.

Both Athens and its international creditors on Thursday each submitted cash-for-reforms proposals to Eurozone finance ministers after failing to come to an agreement together to table a joint plan.

However, the Eurogroup meeting in Brussels ended without a deal and was set to resume on Saturday morning. Leaving the summit, Greece’s finance minister Yanis Varoufakis claimed that officials “disagreed and criticised not only our text but also the text of the institutions”.

While Athens remains steadfast in its opposition to lenders’ demands - pensions is one particular sticking point - it is running out of time to secure funds to meet the€1.6bn repayment due to the IMF on 30 June.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said the latest failings from Brussels have left a Greek deal in doubt once again. He said: “Things appeared to take yet another turn for the worse this afternoon, as the fourth Eurogroup meeting in a week was prematurely disbanded.”

Meanwhile, comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel were also unnerving investors after she said officials had “not yet made the necessary progress”. She added: “In some places we even have the impression that we are falling back a bit.”

Miners extend losses

After moderate losses for most of the session, mining stocks extended their descent into negative territory by the close as risk appetite waned. Heavyweights BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Glencore were among the worst performers.

Insurer Admiral was also trading sharply lower after Citigroup downgraded the stock to ‘sell’ from ‘neutral’, saying it’s a high-quality name, but fully valued. The bank said it sees limited room for price-to-earnings expansion, given the growth profile is unlikely to return to historical levels, even assuming an upswing in UK motor rates.

In contrast, shares in software company Sage pushed up as Investec upgraded the stock, following sharp losses in the previous session on the back of its Capital Markets Day. Investec raised the stock to ‘hold’ from ‘sell’.

Blue chips Compass, Experian and United Utilities were lower after going ex-dividend.

Supermarket giant Tesco advanced on rumours that private equity firms Affinity Equity Partners, Carlyle Group and CVC Capital Partners were among seven or eight preliminary bidders for Tesco’s South Korean unit.

Recycled packing maker DS Smith gained after posting a 20% rise in full-year pre-tax profit and a 14% increase in the full-year dividend.

Department store Debenhams also advanced after saying it was on track to meet full-year gross profit targets, helped by a 0.9% improvement in like-for-like sales.

Market Movers
techMARK 3,192.41 -0.18%
FTSE 100 6,807.82 -0.54%
FTSE 250 17,944.88 +0.11%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Sage Group (SGE) 536.00p +3.88%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 635.50p +2.83%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,148.00p +2.04%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,441.00p +1.69%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 368.70p +1.68%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 192.40p +1.58%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,015.00p +1.26%
Tesco (TSCO) 217.75p +0.90%
ITV (ITV) 275.10p +0.66%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 731.00p +0.62%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
United Utilities Group (UU.) 955.00p -3.68%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,336.00p -2.73%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,767.00p -1.83%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,140.00p -1.81%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,733.00p -1.71%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,095.00p -1.62%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,408.00p -1.61%
Glencore (GLEN) 273.55p -1.60%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,183.00p -1.58%
Bunzl (BNZL) 1,811.00p -1.47%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Telecom Plus (TEP) 930.00p +5.56%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,960.00p +4.70%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 390.50p +3.86%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 973.00p +3.79%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 437.70p +3.52%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 1,783.00p +2.94%
Bellway (BWY) 2,429.00p +2.71%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,389.00p +2.51%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 300.10p +2.42%
Rightmove (RMV) 3,429.00p +2.36%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Lonmin (LMI) 122.20p -2.94%
Card Factory (CARD) 329.00p -2.61%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 223.70p -2.57%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 358.00p -2.51%
Mitie Group (MTO) 318.00p -2.39%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 217.50p -2.38%
IMI (IMI) 1,163.00p -2.10%
Bodycote (BOY) 726.50p -2.09%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 248.90p -2.01%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 161.10p -2.01%