FTSE Flat as Greek bailout gets the nod
THE FTSE 100 was broadly flat this morning as Eurozone leaders agreed a second bailout for Greece after weeks of tortuous negotiations.
Investors overall were encouraged by the move but there were still fears that the €130bn lifeline was only a short term fix for Greece which is drowning in debt.
The deal was largely priced in to equity markets after recent rallies and the market remained stable in early trading.
Greece will now avoid a default next month, enabling the country to launch a bond swap with private investors to help reduce and restructure its debt mountain.
Meanwhile data in the UK showed that public sector borrowing was in surplus to the tune of £7.8bn in January.
Miners were the primary gainers in London after copper prices added another 1.4 per cent in Asia trade on expectations of more lending for infrastructure projects in China.
Vedanta was up three per cent, Polymetal 0.9 per cent and Anglo American 0.8 per cent.
In the financial services sector insurer Admiral was the steepest climber, up three per cent. Meanwhile interdealer broker Icap nudged up 1.2 per cent.
Engineer Amec was up more than one per cent after announcing a £300m share buy back and a jump in profit.
On the down side Tullow Oil dipped by 3.5 per cent after investors were disappointed by a drilling update. India-focused Essar Energy dipped by two per cent, while engineer Weir Group was off by 1.5 per cent.
Supermarket giant Morrisons was down 1.5 per cent and British Land 1.4 per cent.
Among banks Lloyds dipped 0.3 per cent and RBS 0.4 per cent. In contrast Barclays was up by 0.4 per cent.
In Asia the Nikkei closed down 0.2 per cent and the Hang Seng up 0.2 per cent.
Across the Atlantic later January’s Chicago Fed index is due for release.