London close: UK stocks finish flat as markets pause at 15-year high

18th Feb 2015 16:29

Renewed optimism surrounding Greece gave market sentiment a boost on Wednesday, though stocks had erased gains by the close as investors took profits with the FTSE 100 near its all-time high.The Footsie finished the session down just 0.05 points at 6,898.08, retreating after hitting an intra-day high of 6,921.32.Tuesday's close of 6,898.13 was the index's highest finish since 30 December 1999 when it settled at a record high of 6,930.20. The intraday record of 6,950.60 was also reached on that same day."The FTSE 100 hit 15-year highs on Wednesday but the high altitudes proved too much and the index retreated back beneath 6,900," said analyst Jasper Lawler from CMC markets.Greece confirmed on Wednesday that it will request a six-month extension "loan agreement" with its European creditors, but is not willing to continue on the same terms as its existing bailout agreement.Prime minister Alexis Tsipras said negotiations with the Eurozone were at "a critical and delicate stage"."There is optimism that permission will be granted by Greece's EU creditors to extend its loan programme beyond February and keep the country from defaulting and falling out of the Eurozone," Lawler said.Closer to home, the Bank of England revealed that its Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to keep rates unchanged at its February meeting. However, members did express differences of opinion over when to hike rates given the outlook for inflation, which dropped to a record low of 0.3% in January.In other news, the International Labour Organisation said the UK's unemployment rate dipped to 5.7% over the three months to the end of December, from 5.8%, as expected.Hargreaves jumps on new draw-down planHargreaves Lansdown topped the risers after becoming the first UK company to unveil the terms of its low-cost drawdown pension plan, which has no set-up fees or income withdrawal charges. The company said it has already received over 175,000 requests for information for the new regime, which launches on 6 April.Supermarket giant Tesco finished lower despite an earlier rise after revealing that it would be appointing Dixons Carphone's chairman John Allan as the replacement of current chair Richard Broadbent who announced his resignation last year.Coca-Cola HBC, the Greece-based drinks bottler, enjoyed improved volumes and lower sugar and oil costs in the final few months of the year, but full-year earnings were worse than analysts were expecting due to currency effects.Real estate groups were among the worst performers with broker downgrades hitting shares of heavyweights Intu Properties and British Land. Intu was cut to 'equal weight' at Barclays while British Land was lowered to 'hold' at Peel Hunt.Hammerson, Land Securities, Derwent London, Great Portland Estates and Segro were also registering losses in afternoon trade.Utility stocks such as SSE were also out of favour after a Competition and Markets Authority report found that energy groups have "unilateral market power" over customers and householders were losing out by not switching providers.Market MoverstechMARK 3,131.70 +0.10%FTSE 100 6,898.08 -0.00%FTSE 250 17,002.14 +0.68%FTSE 100 - RisersHargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,053.00p +3.44%Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,111.00p +2.87%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 396.50p +2.59%ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,099.00p +2.52%Aggreko (AGK) 1,684.00p +2.31%WPP (WPP) 1,482.00p +2.14%Standard Chartered (STAN) 966.00p +2.10%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,450.00p +2.04%CRH (CRH) 1,847.00p +1.99%Anglo American (AAL) 1,259.00p +1.94%FTSE 100 - FallersIntu Properties (INTU) 364.10p -3.27%Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,143.00p -3.05%Hammerson (HMSO) 665.50p -2.63%Vodafone Group (VOD) 225.45p -2.51%British Land Co (BLND) 811.50p -2.23%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 553.50p -1.86%Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,223.00p -1.85%Royal Mail (RMG) 430.40p -1.65%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,603.50p -1.64%Shire Plc (SHP) 5,100.00p -1.64%FTSE 250 - RisersAfren (AFR) 11.10p +34.55%Regus (RGU) 231.60p +7.67%De La Rue (DLAR) 581.50p +6.40%Vedanta Resources (VED) 580.50p +5.35%Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 583.00p +4.86%Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 322.00p +4.17%Vesuvius (VSVS) 463.70p +4.11%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 175.10p +3.86%Atkins (WS) (ATK) 1,395.00p +3.72%Galliford Try (GFRD) 1,420.00p +3.65%FTSE 250 - FallersCard Factory (CARD) 259.30p -2.56%Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,141.00p -2.56%IP Group (IPO) 255.20p -2.41%WH Smith (SMWH) 1,275.00p -2.22%Redefine International (RDI) 56.75p -2.16%Rexam (REX) 537.00p -2.01%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 66.05p -2.00%SEGRO (SGRO) 413.90p -1.92%National Express Group (NEX) 261.90p -1.91%Ted Baker (TED) 2,452.00p -1.84%