London midday: Stocks pare losses after retail sales, but Greece still a concern

18th Jun 2015 11:19

An unexpected rise in UK retail sales helped to limit downside on London's stock market on Thursday, though ongoing concerns about Greece ensured that shares stayed at a five-month low.The FTSE 100, which fell to its lowest since January on Wednesday, was down 0.11% a 6,673.18 by midday.Nevertheless, the index had bounced off the intraday low of 6,625.16 reached earlier on, helped by decent gains in the mining sector as metal prices advanced.Retail sales in the UK excluding fuel rose by 0.2% in May, surprising analysts who had expected a 0.2% decline after 0.8% growth in April.The stronger-than-estimated outcome, due largely to growth from food stores and alcohol promotions in particular, pushed sterling to 1.5920 against the dollar, its highest since November 2014.Nevertheless, the focus remained firmly on a Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday as Greece continues to wrangle with creditors to secure the next tranche its bailout before the end of June, when it faces a €1.6bn debt repayment to the IMF."The rumblings in Europe appear to be building to a crescendo as the Greek debt negotiations reach a critical phase," said Hargreaves Lansdown. "UK investors have little direct exposure to Greece, however they do have considerable exposure to Europe, where sentiment is clearly sensitive to the twists and turns of the ongoing Greek saga."A barrage of US economic data is also likely to garner some attention following a policy decision by the Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday evening.Policymakers struck a relatively dovish tone as they downgraded their growth forecasts for the US this year and warned that factors such as Greece and the strength of the US dollar could continue to weigh on the economy. At the same time, however, the so-called 'dot plot' chart for projections of the Fed funds rate pointed to at least one, or possibly two, rate rises before the end of the year.On the agenda for Thursday's session will be US data on the balance of payments, the consumer price index, jobless claims, the current account balance, the leading indicators index and the Philly Fed index.Miners rise, ex-div stocks dragA weaker dollar on dovish Fed comments gave metal prices a boost, lifting stocks across the mining sector including Randgold, Fresnillo, Anglo American, Glencore and BHP Billiton.However, a number of blue chips were trading in the red after going ex-dividend, such as Land Securities, 3i Group and Severn Trent.Shares in Poundland dropped after the discount retailer warned that it faced a number of headwinds in the current financial year, as it posted an 18.6% rise in full-year underlying pre-tax profit.Technology products and solutions firm Premier Farnell disappointed with a 2% drop in first-quarter gross profits and guidance for a first-half bottom line "marginally below the prior year".High street bookie William Hill was lower after saying its finance director, Neil Cooper, will step down from his role to become chief financial officer at Barratt Developments. The company assured that "[Cooper] leaves us in excellent financial health".Market MoverstechMARK 3,123.21 -0.66%FTSE 100 6,673.18 -0.11%FTSE 250 17,624.16 -0.46%FTSE 100 - RisersAnglo American (AAL) 998.60p +3.42%Fresnillo (FRES) 732.00p +2.81%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,551.00p +2.80%Glencore (GLEN) 279.20p +2.70%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,334.50p +2.50%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,766.00p +1.60%Antofagasta (ANTO) 722.00p +1.55%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 263.80p +1.50%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,042.50p +1.41%Centrica (CNA) 273.30p +1.04%FTSE 100 - Fallers3i Group (III) 514.50p -3.56%Severn Trent (SVT) 2,048.00p -3.35%TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,111.00p -2.29%Shire Plc (SHP) 5,110.00p -2.01%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,608.00p -1.95%CRH (CRH) 1,802.00p -1.74%St James's Place (STJ) 860.00p -1.71%Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,981.00p -1.49%Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,085.00p -1.36%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,610.00p -1.35%FTSE 250 - RisersPolymetal International (POLY) 564.00p +3.49%Lonmin (LMI) 130.00p +2.77%Infinis Energy (INFI) 196.60p +2.50%Acacia Mining (ACA) 297.60p +2.48%Pets at Home Group (PETS) 283.60p +2.01%Vedanta Resources (VED) 594.50p +1.97%Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 227.80p +1.79%Diploma (DPLM) 797.50p +1.53%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,171.00p +1.47%COLT Group SA (COLT) 157.20p +1.35%FTSE 250 - FallersPremier Farnell (PFL) 180.50p -4.85%Rotork (ROR) 232.60p -4.00%Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 160.50p -3.31%Telecom Plus (TEP) 801.50p -2.67%Betfair Group (BET) 2,356.00p -2.48%Electrocomponents (ECM) 225.20p -2.30%Playtech (PTEC) 790.00p -2.23%Poundland Group (PLND) 304.60p -2.09%3i Infrastructure (3IN) 165.30p -1.96%Workspace Group (WKP) 888.00p -1.93%