- Eurogroup approves Greek bailout.- Oil stocks drag Footsie lower.- Tullow Oil drops despite oil find in Sierra Leone.London's benchmark index was trading close to its intraday low at midday as investors pondered the future of the Eurozone following last night's Eurogroup approval of the next tranche of Greek aid. Oil stocks were leading the decline on the FTSE 100.EUROGROUP SIGNS OFF ON €130BN GREEK BAILOUT Eurozone finance ministers worked more that 13 hours last night on an agreement originally penned last October. Eurogroup has now finally approved a deal that will provide a second €130bn bailout to Greece. The Eurogroup opted for accepting a debt reduction to 120.5% of GDP by 2012, compared to the current 160% and the original 120% requisite. The deal also includes a private sector "voluntary" haircut of 53.5% which should save the Greek government approximately €107bn. The October agreement pointed to a 50% cut for the private Greek bondholders in the nominal value of bonds, equivalent to about a 70% loss on the debt's net present value. All a necessary step in the constant Greek soap opera that, no matter what some headlines might imply, is far from over.A confidential report prepared by EU, ECB and IMF experts, and cited in several media reports, was quick to sum up that debt reduction targets are best wishes at most given the worsening state of the Greek economy. The Financial Times obtained a copy of the report and said that "even under the most optimistic scenario, the austerity measures being imposed on Athens risk a recession so deep that Greece will not be able to climb out of the debt hole." The most "pessimistic" scenario suggests that at least €245bn would be needed. OIL STOCKS LEAD THE FALLERS AT MIDDAYOil stocks were leading the downside as oil prices retreated after a strong rise yesterday which saw the price of Brent crude reach the $120-a-barrel level. The spike in oil prices was triggered after oil rich Iran threatened to stop oil exports to more European countries after Tehran reduced sales to French and UK companies the previous session. Iran said the threat was in retaliation to EU countries if they continued to carry out what it called "hostile acts". Today, Brent futures were trading down 0.56% at $119.38 on the InterContinental Exchange in London just before midday.Tullow Oil was among the worst performers despite saying that it has found oil at one of its exploration wells offshore Sierra Leone. However, shares fell by as much as 4% early on, after the firm said that the "area is likely to require additional evaluation". While Tullow's Exploration Director Angus McCoss says the results are "encouraging", many analysts have pointed to the fact that the well will need further appraisal to due to the limited information given - a possible reason for the negative market reaction this morning. Sector peers Essar Energy, Cairn Energy, BG Group, Petrofac and Shell were also providing a drag on the FTSE 100. Elsewhere in the sector, AIM-listed Max Petroleum was down over 5%, pulling back after its recent surge on the back of takeover rumours. Another operator in Khazakstan, Zhaikmunai, was thought to be launching a bid but a public relations officer repenting Zhaikmunai told Sharecast there is "absolutely no truth" in the rumour. Engineering group AMEC fell despite bumping up the total dividend for 2011 by 15% to 30.5p and announced a £400m share buy-back programme. Revenue for 2011 at £3,261m, while up 11% on 2010, was below the £3,273m expected by the market. Banks were also out of favour today with Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group among the fallers. Both RBS and Lloyds are set to report their full-year results this week. While the banks are expected to post hefty losses due to a series of write-downs in 2011, they are both expected to return to profit in 2012 after cutting thousands of jobs as the banks slim down their businesses.Miners on the other hand were on the rise, with Vedanta Resources, Glencore International and Anglo American tracking metals prices higher.Interdealer broker ICAP was in demand after acquiring Singaporean shipbroking company Island Shipbrokers for an undisclosed sum, a move which the firm believes will complement its existing operations and strengthen ICAP Shipping's growth in Asia.FTSE 250: SEGRO FALLS, CRODA RISES European industrial property firm SEGRO saw earnings per share on a European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) basis move up in 2011, although net asset value per share fell back. Shares fell nearly 3%. EPRA earnings per share rose 7.6% to £18.4m from £17.1m the year before, despite the company posting a loss before tax of £53.6m compared to a profit of £197.2m the year before. Net asset value per share dipped 5.7% to 345p from 366p at the end of 2010. Meanwhile, Croda International, the speciality chemical producer, was a high riser after achieving a profit before tax of £60m in the final quarter of 2011, a rise of 22.7% compared to the same period of 2010. For the full year, the company saw pre-tax profits rise 25.9% against 2010, hitting £242.2m by the end of December. Russia-focused gold miner Petropavlovsk was higher after Nomura upgraded its rating from reduce to neutral, saying that group's resource update this week could provide positive news on the production potential of its Pioneer mine.BCFTSE 100 - RisersVedanta Resources (VED) 1,410.00p +3.83%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,032.00p +2.08%ICAP (IAP) 393.70p +1.05%BT Group (BT.A) 217.60p +0.93%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,417.00p +0.71%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 797.00p +0.50%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 703.50p +0.36%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,356.00p +0.21%ITV (ITV) 78.20p +0.19%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,118.50p +0.16%FTSE 100 - FallersEvraz (EVR) 417.00p -3.56%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,546.00p -3.44%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 167.60p -3.34%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 27.65p -2.91%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 35.40p -2.60%Essar Energy (ESSR) 122.00p -2.48%CRH (CRH) 1,343.00p -2.26%Carnival (CCL) 1,942.00p -1.97%Aviva (AV.) 375.10p -1.96%Land Securities Group (LAND) 678.00p -1.95%FTSE 250 - RisersKenmare Resources (KMR) 59.90p +6.21%Croda International (CRDA) 2,111.00p +3.94%Petropavlovsk (POG) 718.00p +3.09%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 660.00p +2.80%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 520.00p +2.46%Misys (MSY) 336.40p +1.91%Carpetright (CPR) 659.00p +1.54%COLT Group SA (COLT) 96.45p +1.53%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,118.00p +1.45%Genus (GNS) 1,125.00p +1.44%FTSE 250 - FallersCSR (CSR) 260.50p -5.27%Homeserve (HSV) 223.60p -4.61%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 81.75p -4.61%Home Retail Group (HOME) 108.40p -4.32%Devro (DVO) 285.10p -3.03%Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 249.10p -2.96%Rentokil Initial (RTO) 78.50p -2.48%Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 269.80p -2.46%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 293.30p -2.46%Derwent London (DLN) 1,707.00p -2.35%
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