London pre-open: Stocks to edge higher ahead of Greek meeting

11th Feb 2015 07:53

UK stocks are expected to open slightly higher on Wednesday after three straight days of losses, though upside will likely be limited as investors await news flow on Greece.City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open eight points higher than Tuesday's close of 6,829.12.All eyes will be on the emergency meeting of Eurogroup finance ministers on Wednesday, where Greece's Yanis Varoufakis will make his debut appearance as he attempts to persuade his peers of the benefits of his bridging programme.The EU is thought likely to propose a six-month extension of the existing bailout programme.Stocks to watchCommodities trader and mining giant Glencore has scaled back its planned capital expenditure (capex) budget for 2015 by as much as 18% and announced plans to sell off its 23.9% stake in South African platinum miner Lonmin. The sale of its interest would be implemented by way of a distribution in specie, as a straightforward market disposal of the stake at this time "would not be in the best interest of its shareholders", Glencore said.In the first set of results after offloading its drugs business, Reckitt Benckiser said fourth-quarter net revenue grew ahead of forecast and revealed a new 'Supercharge' project to simplify the business and cut costs. Net sales excluding Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals were up 5% to £2.3bn in the final three months of the year, beating expectations of a 4% rise, leading to a full-year rise of 4% at constant currencies to £8.84bn.Thomas Cook experienced a revenue increase in its first-quarter results for the three months ended 31 December 2014, despite reporting "tough" trading conditions in continental and northern Europe. Like-for-like revenue rose 1.6% to £1,519m, according to the company.Challenging conditions across the oil industry have pushed Tullow Oil to suspend its final dividend for 2014, as the company swung to a loss of over $2bn on the back of hefty impairment charges and exploration write-offs. Tullow announced plans to deliver cash savings of $500m over the next three years which will be realised through reductions in capital expenditure, operating costs and administrative expenses.