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LONDON (Alliance News) - London share prices are down Friday mid-morning, dragged by miners and oil-related stocks, as analysts say investors will become nervous as next week's deadline for Greece to present its economic reforms approaches.
The FTSE 100 is down 0.4% at 6,870.31, following a third consecutive decline posted on Thursday. The FTSE 250 is trading down 0.2% at 17,228.53, while the AIM All-Share index is outperforming, up 0.1% at 717.6.
European indices are outperforming London, with the CAC 40 in Paris up 0.4% and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt up 0.2%.
"Beware adoption of week-end risk-off as we approach Monday?s deadline for presenting economic reforms needed to unlock funding and avoid further deterioration of already its dire straits as depositors continue to withdraw funds from Hellenic banks," says Accendo analyst Mike van Dulken.
Greek government sources have said Athens' reform proposals could include raising the retirement age. The SYRYZA-led government also wants to crack down on money laundering and tax evasion. Once Athens submits the reform list, it will be reviewed by its creditors and the Eurogroup Working Group, before being considered by the panel of eurozone finance ministers. The review process is expected to take at least 24 hours.
"We expect negotiations to remain protracted, and given substantial debt service in the coming weeks, we think market sentiment might turn a lot more nervous again in April," says UBS analyst Reinhard Cluse. "Our base-case scenario remains that a compromise will eventually be found, but the path towards this outcome is likely to be bumpy and the risk of failure has to be taken seriously, in our view."
Later Friday, part of the market focus will be on the US as investors gauge the revision to US GDP data for the fourth quarter of 2014, which is due at 1230 GMT. "Expectations are for an upward revision from 2.2% to 2.4%, with personal consumption likely to be the main driver of the upgrade," says CMC Markets chief markets analyst Michael Hewson.
After the closing of the London equities market, attention will turn to the speech of US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco at 1945 GMT.
US futures point to a lower opening Friday, following recent declines in Wall Street. The DJIA and the S&P 500 closed down 0.2% Thursday, while the Nasdaq Composite ended down 0.3%, after a sell-off Wednesday led by the technology stocks, with the Nasdaq down that day 2.4%.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney currently is speaking at the Bundesbank in Frankfurt. The pound is higher against the dollar, quoted at USD1.4876.
In London, miners and oil-related stocks are the main weight on the FTSE 100 as the Brent oil price drops Friday, quoted at USD58.10, down 1.3% on the day. Gold is down 0.5% at USD1,197.86, after touching USD1,204.89 Thursday, its highest level since the beginning of the month.
Commodities prices rose Thursday as Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen with the support of Gulf region allies and the US. Saudi ambassador in the US, Adel al-Jubeir, said the military action was to defend the "legitimate government" of President Abd rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has taken refuge in the southern port city of Aden.
The FTSE 350 Mining sector index is down 2%, while the FTSE 350 oil equipment services & distribution sector index is down 1.4%. The FTSE 350 Oil and Gas Producers sector index is down 1.1%.
Oil-related stocks as Weir Group, down 2.1%, Royal Dutch Shell 'A', down 1.5%, BG Group, down 1.0% and BP, down 0.7%, are amongst the biggest losers in the FTSE 100.
Miners Anglo American, down 3.1%, Randgold Resources, down 2.8%, Glencore, down 2.6%, Rio Tinto, down 2%, Fresnillo, down 1.6%, and Antofagasta, down 1.6%, also are amongst the worst performers in the blue-chip index.
Antofagasta on Friday said the heavy rainfall in the Atacama desert in Chile has resulted in the company suspended operations at three of its mines. The Chilean copper miner said it has suspended operations at the Centinela, Antucoya and Michilla mines, all of which are located in the desert. It said the suspension was primarily to ensure the safety of employees, though it said some processing of stockpiled material has been possible. The impact of the rain on its operations is currently being assessed and operations are expected to return to normal as the situation improves.
Among other individual stocks, Vodafone Group is among the best performers in the FTSE 100, up 1.1%. The telecoms group on Friday said it has signed a new partner deal with Botswana Telecommunications. Under the deal, Botswana Telecommunications will become Vodafone's preferred partner in Botswana, and the two companies will jointly offer businesses and consumers a range of products and services. No financial details were disclosed on the deal.
In the FTSE 250, Homeserve is among the best performers, up 2.9%, after the home emergency company said it is trading in line with expectations for the year to the end of March. The company said trading across the company in the final quarter of its financial year has been good, with retention and marketing activities both performing well. It expects to end the year with 2.1 million customers in its UK business and said it is seeing good growth levels in its international business.
Still in the corporate calendar Friday, Carnival is due to release 2015 first quarter results at 1400 GMT.
By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com
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