AGA.L Share News (AGA)

- Leader to discuss Greek extension- Markets nervous ahead of UK GDP- Anglo American leads miners lowerLondon's benchmark index slumped in early trading on Friday with mining stocks once again dominating the downward trend ahead of meetings of Eurozone leaders and the release of economic growth data in the UK.German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras are due to meet later today in Berlin to discuss the Greek economy and the extension of meeting the bailout terms. French President François Hollande said yesterday that Eurozone leaders want Greece to remain in the single-currency region but stressed that "it's up to the Greeks to make responsible efforts to achieve this goal". According to media reports this morning, the German Finance Ministry has established a group to look at the impact of contagion from a Greek exit from the Eurozone. "These issues have surely been studied and discussed within the government for some time now, but the official confirmation of a working group putting together a 'Plan B' is a clear signal to the Greek government and its PM Samaras, who is visiting Chancellor Merkel today, that there is very little room for renegotiating the current Greek aid programme," said analysts at Barclays in en e-mailed note.Meanwhile, UK gross domestic product (GDP) data is due for release this morning. The first stab at estimating GDP suggested that the UK economy had shrunk by an eye-watering 0.7% during the quarter, after declining by 0.3% in the first three months of the year."Since then subsequent data revisions seem to suggest that there will be an upward revision to the numbers with construction numbers being revised higher along with two to three months of retail sales numbers. These revisions are expected to still show a contraction but of -0.5%, or even -0.4%. Anything less than that level of adjustment would be a disappointment.FTSE 100: Miners and financials provide a dragMining stocks were heavy fallers early on with Kazakhmys, Rio Tinto, ENRC, Antofagasta, Anglo American, Vedanta, BHP Billiton and Randgold falling sharply. Anglo American dropped after Jefferies downgraded the stock this morning from 'buy' to 'hold' despite yesterday's news that it had resolved a 10-month dispute with Codelco relating to assets in Chile. "While this outcome should be a modest positive for Anglo, we are increasingly concerned about the fundamental outlook for the company," the broker said.Financials were also out favour with fund manager Ashmore among the worst performers after Citigroup lowered its rating to 'sell'. Global banking group HSBC was under the weather on rumours that it is in talks about a settlement concerning the allegations of laundering funds of sanctioned countries such as Iran and Sudan.FTSE 250: Berendsen gains; Stobart and Lonmin dropWork-wear and wash-room facilities provider Berendsen rose after increasing profitability in the first half of 2012, despite a small dip in revenues. Logistics firm Stobart fell after saying its short-term performance in transport is lower than market expectations as the current recessionary climate continues to hurt the sector.Platinum miner Lonmin was out of favour after appointing Simon Scott, the group's Chief Financial Officer, as Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) while Ian Farmer is receiving treatment for his illness.In small caps news, upmarket cooker maker AGA Rangemaster dropped over 10% after deciding not to pay an interim dividend as revenues and profits slipped in the first half.FTSE 100 - RisersDiageo (DGE) 1,715.00p +1.00%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,943.00p +0.99%Centrica (CNA) 326.30p +0.96%SSE (SSE) 1,357.00p +0.89%Aggreko (AGK) 2,279.00p +0.89%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,463.50p +0.86%Bunzl (BNZL) 1,111.00p +0.73%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,738.00p +0.70%Unilever (ULVR) 2,262.00p +0.67%Compass Group (CPG) 714.00p +0.63%FTSE 100 - FallersKazakhmys (KAZ) 650.00p -4.48%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 332.20p -4.13%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,855.00p -3.45%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 339.70p -3.36%Anglo American (AAL) 1,879.50p -3.19%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,117.00p -3.04%Vedanta Resources (VED) 914.50p -2.76%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,911.00p -2.52%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 222.50p -2.37%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,260.00p -2.19%FTSE 250 - RisersJD Sports Fashion (JD.) 685.50p +4.34%Perform Group (PER) 380.00p +3.49%Berendsen (BRSN) 525.00p +2.14%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 208.40p +2.06%Devro (DVO) 309.80p +1.57%Redrow (RDW) 141.90p +1.36%COLT Group SA (COLT) 118.80p +1.28%PZ Cussons (PZC) 307.40p +1.28%Inmarsat (ISAT) 570.50p +1.24%TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 163.50p +1.24%FTSE 250 - FallersAquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 39.11p -4.84%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 115.00p -3.44%Lonmin (LMI) 618.50p -3.36%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 185.90p -3.08%Avocet Mining (AVM) 90.40p -2.80%Soco International (SIA) 338.20p -2.62%SIG (SHI) 100.00p -2.53%Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 284.90p -2.33%Shanks Group (SKS) 90.40p -2.27%Premier Oil (PMO) 368.60p -2.20%BC