London midday: Markets cautious ahead of Eurogroup meeting on Greece

20th Nov 2012 11:27

Following on from a 2.36 per cent surge yesterday, the FTSE 100 pulled back on Tuesday morning with concerns about the Eurozone being reignited ahead of an extraordinary Eurogroup meeting on Greece scheduled for this evening.Eurozone finance ministers are meeting today in Brussels to discuss whether of not to release the next tranche of aid for Greece. However, Marianne Kothe, spokesperson for Germany's Finance Ministry, told the German press yesterday that a decision on the next part of the bailout should not be expected today."Given the Greeks have passed the required austerity measures and 2013 budget, some thought this a foregone conclusion. However the delay of this decision put doubt into some minds," said research analyst Joshua Mahony from Alpari."Expectation is that the issue will finally be resolved today, however noises coming out of the Eurozone indicate further concessions are being sought by the creditors," he said.Meanwhile, investors are losing options to safeguard their funds in the highest investment-grade assets after Moody's decided to strip France of its triple-A rating. The US rating agency has downgraded France by one notch to 'Aa1' while keeping a negative outlook, which signals that the country is susceptible to future downgrades. "The first driver underlying Moody's one-notch downgrade of France's sovereign rating is the risk to economic growth, and therefore to the government's finances, posed by the country's persistent structural economic challenges," Moody's said. Elsewhere in the Eurozone, the Spanish Treasury tapped the market for €4.938bn in short-term debt this morning, well ahead of the €4.5bn maximum target set. Yields were more or less unchanged from the last auction.FTSE 100: Banks fall on FSA worriesBanking stocks including RBS, Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds were out of favour this morning after Andrew Bailey, the head of banking supervision at the FSA, said that banks should face the threat of being broken up if they do not comply with proposals to ring-fence retail and riskier operations. Commodities giant Glencore was in demand after over 99% of shareholders voted in approval of its merger with Xstrata. The Xstrata shareholder vote is expected later today.Real estate investment trust British Land rose after seeing a solid increase in underlying profits in the first half, as it continued to outperform its benchmark of property returns, the IPD. Meanwhile, the firm announced that its Chairman of six years, Chris Gibson-Smith, would be stepping down at the end of 2012. Analysts at Barclays have raised their view of hotels giant Intercontinental Hotels to 'overweight', prompting shares to gain this morning.FTSE 250: Lonmin jumps 11% after shareholders back fundraisingPlatinum miner Lonmin was a high riser after shareholders yesterday voted in favour of a $817m rights issue to repair its balance sheeteasyJet was flying high after delivering forecast-beating record profits boosted by higher margins and increased passenger numbers. LED manufacturer Dialight surged after saying that it has received a major order from an unnamed US power plant operator for over 1,000 LED lighting fixtures.Strong growth internationally saw home emergency repairs group HomeServe achieve a decent increase in revenue and profit in the first half despite a slight fall in customer numbers over the period, pushing shares higher this morning.FTSE 100 - RisersInterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,625.00p +2.20%Xstrata (XTA) 974.60p +1.86%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 166.30p +1.77%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,575.00p +1.42%Wood Group (John) (WG.) 803.50p +1.39%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,452.00p +1.26%GKN (GKN) 210.30p +1.25%Aggreko (AGK) 2,146.00p +1.23%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,241.00p +1.22%Prudential (PRU) 881.00p +1.21%FTSE 100 - FallersARM Holdings (ARM) 733.00p -1.87%Anglo American (AAL) 1,682.00p -1.67%Old Mutual (OML) 168.30p -1.58%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 282.90p -1.53%Meggitt (MGGT) 375.20p -1.47%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 110.60p -1.43%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 610.50p -1.26%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 141.50p -1.19%Barclays (BARC) 246.80p -1.18%National Grid (NG.) 691.00p -1.14%FTSE 250 - RisersLonmin (LMI) 305.00p +11.34%Dialight (DIA) 1,129.00p +6.01%easyJet (EZJ) 689.50p +5.67%Homeserve (HSV) 232.80p +4.39%Supergroup (SGP) 640.50p +3.72%Greene King (GNK) 609.00p +2.87%Anite (AIE) 133.60p +2.77%COLT Group SA (COLT) 105.30p +2.73%Rotork (ROR) 2,433.00p +2.70%Ocado Group (OCDO) 77.00p +2.67%FTSE 250 - FallersEssar Energy (ESSR) 122.00p -3.25%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 242.00p -3.20%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,081.00p -3.05%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,798.00p -2.27%Premier Oil (PMO) 329.50p -2.02%TR Property Inv Trust Sigma Shares (TRYS) 78.40p -2.00%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 967.50p -1.98%Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 75.15p -1.83%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 325.00p -1.81%NMC Health (NMC) 176.30p -1.67%BC