London midday: Easyjet, StanChart lead UK stocks lower as Greek fears increase

15th Jun 2015 11:34

UK stocks dropped sharply on Monday, with the FTSE 100 on track for its lowest finish in three months, as debt talks between Greece and its creditors collapsed abruptly.The FTSE 100 was trading 0.74% lower at 6,734.97 by midday, with Easyjet and Standard Chartered providing a drag. The index has not closed below this level since 11 March when it settled at 6,721.51.Markets across Europe were firmly in the red on Monday with the Athens Stock Exchange down 5% after Greek negotiations in Brussels ended after just 45 minutes on Sunday night on the back of disagreements over issues such as pension reforms and tax rates.A spokesman from the European Commission said there was still a "significant gap" between the two sides. Time is now running out for Athens as it faces a €1.6bn debt repayment to the IMF at the end of the month."Contact between the two sides appears to be getting more and more infrequent - a certain fatalism appears to have gripped the Greeks, as their exit from the Eurozone appears more and more likely," said IG analyst Chris Beauchamp.While Greek leaders held an emergency government meeting on Monday to discuss the latest debate, the market's attention was turning to a Eurogroup meeting on Thursday which could, in the absence of a deal, result in the ECB cutting all emergency funding to Greece's banks, according to reports.In the meantime, investors were also awaiting the outcome of Wednesday's policy meeting at the Federal Reserve, which is expected to offer some indications that a rate hike could be on the cards in September.Travel stocks lead the declineShares in budget airline Easyjet fell after RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock to 'underperform' from 'outperform' and slashed its price target to 1,500p from 2,000p, noting that its positive outlook for summer has proved incorrect. "As summer is key, we see few positive catalysts until mid-2016, while easyJet faces a winter squeeze," said RBC.Airline conglomerate IAG was also out of favour, along with travel peers Carnival and Thomas Cook.Thomas Cook also declined after announcing a new joint venture with shareholder Fosun International with the aim of developing domestic, inbound and outbound tourism activities for the Chinese market.Shares in Standard Chartered dropped after Jefferies cut its price target and warned that the company may cut its dividend to bolster capital.NMC Health gained after acquiring long-term medical care provider ProVita for $160.6m.Market MoverstechMARK 3,163.38 -0.80%FTSE 100 6,734.97 -0.74%FTSE 250 17,772.43 -0.98%FTSE 100 - RisersLand Securities Group (LAND) 1,278.00p +0.63%Sky (SKY) 1,043.50p +0.34%Royal Mail (RMG) 508.50p +0.30%Tesco (TSCO) 214.35p +0.30%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,425.50p +0.23%Compass Group (CPG) 1,116.00p +0.18%Pearson (PSON) 1,274.00p +0.16%Hammerson (HMSO) 653.50p +0.15%FTSE 100 - FallersStandard Chartered (STAN) 1,031.50p -3.05%easyJet (EZJ) 1,550.00p -2.27%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 408.90p -1.92%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 185.20p -1.91%Persimmon (PSN) 1,935.00p -1.78%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,219.00p -1.77%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 600.50p -1.72%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 954.00p -1.65%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 351.60p -1.62%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,143.00p -1.55%FTSE 250 - RisersSoco International (SIA) 188.40p +5.84%Synergy Health (SYR) 1,766.00p +1.44%Lonmin (LMI) 131.60p +1.39%Infinis Energy (INFI) 199.00p +1.27%UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 89.50p +1.24%NMC Health (NMC) 787.50p +0.90%Polymetal International (POLY) 543.50p +0.83%Aveva Group (AVV) 1,932.00p +0.73%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,187.00p +0.59%Cranswick (CWK) 1,609.00p +0.44%FTSE 250 - FallersTullett Prebon (TLPR) 381.10p -5.60%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 305.00p -3.57%Indivior (INDV) 228.30p -3.22%Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 333.90p -2.85%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 296.60p -2.63%Victrex plc (VCT) 1,944.00p -2.51%Allied Minds (ALM) 577.00p -2.45%Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 1,113.00p -2.45%Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 944.50p -2.38%ICAP (IAP) 536.50p -2.37%