London close: Stocks give up gains as Greece worries resurface

20th May 2011 16:49

Stocks gave up their early gains as continuing concerns over the eurozone debt situation - particularly over Greece - put a dampener on sentiment.The ratings agency Fitch cut its rating on the country's debt by three notches to B+, warning of the challenges the country faces in reviving its economy. In particular, the agency indicated that, "An extension of the maturity of existing bonds would be considered by Fitch to be a default event, adding that if private sector burden-sharing were coercive then the credibility of policy commitments to Ireland and Portugal´s programmes would be severely diminished and in Fitch´s opinion would adversely impact financial stability across the euro area". In stocks news, BP - more specifically last year's disastrous oil spill - was in focus again, but the oil giant's shares moved higher after it said MOEX, part of the Japanese trading house Mitsui and the 10% owner of the Macondo oil well that blew up so disastrously last year, has agreed to pay the British oil giant $1.065bn (£658m).Pub group Mitchells & Butlers's trumpeting of the success of its move into food sales failed to prevent sharp falls in its share price. It made more money from food than drink for the first time in the half year to 9 April, but pre-tax profits at the All Bar One and O' Neills owner fell to £43m from £72m in the same period the previous year on total revenues that fell to £946m from £1.04bn.Due to cost pressures at Mitchells & Butlers, Nomura reduces its "ahead-of-consensus" 2012 earnings estimates, however the 'buy' rating and target price of 435p are kept in place. Shares in Micro Focus were up by more than 8% after the software company confirmed that it has received approaches from investment groups Advent Capital and Bain Capital "which it has chosen to explore." The announcement came after speculation of an approach from Advent had pushed up Micro Focus's share price and the stock climbed higher still after the statement was released. The Financial Times reported yesterday that Advent has emerged as a challenger to Bain, which made an approach to MicroFocus in April. Outside the large and mid-cap indices, shares in HMV soared after the CD, DVD and book retailer said it has agreed to sell its bookshop chain has reached agreement on the sale of its bookshop chain Waterstones to the Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut, for £53m. Scottish and Southern Energy, the utility company, bumped up the dividend a bit more than expected. The full year dividend has been hiked 7.1% to 75p from 70p last year, a shade above market expectations of a 74.8p pay-out. Adjusted profit before tax in the year to March 31st rose 1.6% to £1,310m from £1,290m the year before, topping the market consensus forecast of £1.24bn.Northgate, the light commercial vehicle hire specialist, has promoted Chris Muir, its UK finance director, to the position of group finance director.Parseq has the wind in its sails for the second day in a row after revealing the identity of the mystery client it yesterday said it had won a major contract with. "The three-year contract has been secured with O2 to build, host and manage its new mobile wallet service," he said.RGFTSE 100 - RisersAssociated British Foods (ABF) 1,090.00p +3.12%BP (BP.) 460.00p +2.70%Investec (INVP) 495.00p +1.64%National Grid (NG.) 632.50p +1.61%Essar Energy (ESSR) 434.60p +1.57%ITV (ITV) 70.75p +1.51%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,446.00p +1.35%Tesco (TSCO) 419.50p +1.21%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,602.00p +1.07%Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) 1,341.00p +1.06%FTSE 100 - FallersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 51.61p -2.86%Wolseley (WOS) 2,031.00p -1.88%Next (NXT) 2,226.00p -1.85%Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 635.00p -1.85%IMI (IMI) 1,025.00p -1.54%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 41.50p -1.54%Carnival (CCL) 2,536.00p -1.51%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,232.00p -1.44%Kingfisher (KGF) 280.90p -1.44%International Power (IPR) 324.70p -1.43%FTSE 250 - RisersMicro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 398.60p +7.79%SVG Capital (SVI) 263.30p +4.48%Aveva Group (AVV) 1,618.00p +4.19%TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 145.70p +4.00%ITE Group (ITE) 243.60p +3.92%Booker Group (BOK) 70.25p +3.77%Pace (PIC) 96.25p +3.44%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 889.50p +3.43%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 19.89p +3.32%Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 325.00p +3.21%FTSE 250 - FallersMitchells & Butlers (MAB) 319.00p -5.17%CPP Group (CPP) 131.00p -5.07%Babcock International Group (BAB) 679.50p -3.55%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 614.00p -2.23%Michael Page International (MPI) 529.00p -2.04%Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 386.70p -1.98%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 80.95p -1.88%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 897.00p -1.64%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 150.70p -1.63%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 50.60p -1.56%