London open: Grexit fears hit UK stocks, IHG underwhelms

17th Feb 2015 08:26

UK stocks slipped on Tuesday morning on the back of concerns about a 'Grexit' as another Eurogroup meeting about Greece ended with no agreement.London's FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 6,841 early on with Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) leading the decline after its annual results.A meeting of Eurozone finance ministers on Monday ended early with no accord over what to do about Greek debt, as the nation's new government stood firm on its opposition to the terms of its current bailout."Another breakdown in communication, another nearly-signed agreement, and another day with the Greek debt crisis unresolved," said analyst Connor Campbell from Spreadex."The Eurozone is perpetually engaged in a game of 'Grexit' chicken, with both sides seeing how far they can push the other before the situation snaps," he said.Leaders have now failed in the past two meetings to make any progress and the current aid agreement is due to expire at the end of the month. The Eurogroup will meet again on Friday.As for Tuesday's session, the UK consumer price index is due out at 09:30 and is expected to show that the annual rate of inflation eased to 0.4% in January from 0.5% in December.The German ZEW sentiment index, New York manufacturing data and NAHB US housing market index are also scheduled for release later on.IHG underwhelmsHotels group IHG managed to narrowly beat analysts' forecasts with its annual results but shares were lower early on. The Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn operator said reported operating profit for 2014 totalled $651m, down 3% but slightly ahead of the consensus estimate of $646m."In all, the results are solid if somewhat unexciting," said Keith Bowman from Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers.Oil and gas engineer John Wood Group rose after growing sales and profits by double-digit rates last year and said it expected to deliver growth despite the lower oil price environment.Supermarket giant Tesco was making gains after being upgraded from 'hold' to 'buy' at Deutsche Bank. Other retailers, however, were trading in the red such as Marks & Spencer, Next and Sports Direct.Sports Direct was lower on the news that Jeff Blue, M&A director, has left the company. Retail analyst Nick Bubb said the departure "will raise eyebrows [...] given the need for more acquisitions to boost Sports Direct's flagging profits growth".Market MoverstechMARK 3,106.26 -0.19%FTSE 100 6,840.53 -0.24%FTSE 250 16,871.39 +0.06%FTSE 100 - RisersFresnillo (FRES) 847.50p +0.83%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 605.80p +0.78%Tesco (TSCO) 243.75p +0.56%Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,091.00p +0.46%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,402.00p +0.42%Diageo (DGE) 1,846.50p +0.38%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,595.00p +0.38%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,008.00p +0.37%AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,484.00p +0.35%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,864.00p +0.32%FTSE 100 - FallersSports Direct International (SPD) 655.50p -3.46%Royal Mail (RMG) 433.70p -3.19%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,523.00p -2.51%Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,170.00p -1.85%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,952.00p -1.31%Whitbread (WTB) 4,948.00p -1.24%Hammerson (HMSO) 677.50p -1.09%Barclays (BARC) 256.00p -1.08%Aggreko (AGK) 1,640.00p -0.97%Kingfisher (KGF) 339.70p -0.96%FTSE 250 - RisersBrit (BRIT) 302.20p +10.21%Wood Group (John) (WG.) 674.50p +7.06%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 94.65p +5.17%Smith (DS) (SMDS) 334.10p +3.69%Just Eat (JE.) 365.20p +2.79%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 826.00p +1.98%Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 435.50p +1.66%Genus (GNS) 1,297.00p +1.57%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 112.10p +1.54%Allied Minds (ALM) 499.00p +1.48%FTSE 250 - FallersVedanta Resources (VED) 544.50p -2.94%Afren (AFR) 6.83p -2.36%Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 185.00p -2.27%SSP Group (SSPG) 276.60p -2.26%Game Digital (GMD) 255.00p -1.70%Rank Group (RNK) 183.76p -1.68%Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 722.00p -1.63%TSB Banking Group (TSB) 265.00p -1.38%Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 312.30p -1.36%Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 255.70p -1.31%