Last checked at 
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK stocks are trading slightly but broadly lower mid-morning Tuesday, having opened flat to higher, with the heavily weighted oil and banking sectors weighing on blue-chip and mid-cap indices, while concerns about Greece's financial position drag down the euro.
The FTSE 100 trades down 0.5% at 7,00.13, the FTSE 250 is down 0.2% at 18,164.31, and the AIM All-Share index is slightly lower at 766.38.
European equity markets also are trading lower. The CAC 40 in Paris is down 0.1% and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt is down 0.5%.
A Greek government spokesman on Monday played down suggestions by two leading cabinet ministers that the country is about to default on its debt, saying all efforts were being taken to repay a looming International Monetary Fund loan on schedule.
Gabriel Sakellaridis said Greece would maintain repayments to its EU-IMF creditors for as long as possible. He also rejected the idea of possible capital controls that would restrict money transfers and access to savings.
On Sunday, the country's interior minister had said Greece does not have the money to make a repayment to the IMF by June. However, investors remain concerned that Greece is close to going bankrupt after failing for months to access EUR7.2 billion left in its international bailout.
"Athens can barely keep up with its day-to-day bills, and now that the nation has a series of big repayments due over the summer, the country could reach breaking point. The cracks are already beginning to show within the Syriza party, and if it can't stay united in the coming months, the country will be plunged into political turmoil," says David Madden, market analyst at IG.
Heightened political uncertainty in Spain following local elections also is depressing the euro against other major trading partners. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's Popular Party suffered its worst result in 20 years in a municipal election, as the voters punished his government for four years of austerity and a raft of corruption scandals before a general election due in November.
The euro currently trades the dollar at USD1.0909 but hit a low of USD1.0883, its lowest level in a month.
Oil-related companies are weighing on the UK's main stock indices as the price of oil continues to trade lower. Brent oil fell below the key USD65 a barrel level, but has rebounded slightly and trades at USD65.02, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate, sunk under the USD60 a barrel level, now trading at USD59.30 a barrel.
In the FTSE 100, Royal Dutch Shell 'B' shares trade down 1.4%, while BG Group's are down 1.0%. In the FTSE 250, Tullow Oil leads the fallers, down 3.7%. Also down is Premier Oil, by 1.6%, and Petrofac, by 1.5%.
In addition, the Financial Times reported that Shell executives said the oil reserves the company is hoping to find in the Arctic are unlikely to brought into production before the 2030s due to the difficulty involved in securing environmental approvals.
The fall in oil prices is causing a rise in travel stock prices. Cruise ship operator Carnival trades up 1.0%, while easyJet and International Consolidated Airlines Group both trade up 0.6%.
Ryanair shares are outperforming, trading up 5.0%,. The low-cost airline said its full-year profit after tax climbed 66% to EUR867 million from EUR523 million in the prior year. Net margin jumped from 10% to 15%, and revenue grew 12% to EUR5.65 billion from EUR5.04 billion reported last year. Ryanair said traffic was up 11% as load factors rose from 83% to 88%.
Banks also are causing a drag on London stock indices mid-morning Tuesday, with Barclays down 1.4%, Royal Bank of Scotland Group down 1.2% and Lloyds Banking Group down 1.1%.
Royal Mail Group, up 2.5%, leads FTSE 100 gainers after Cantor Fitzgerald upgrades it to Hold from Sell, as the UK's legacy postal operator's valuation comes in line with the broker's forecasts.
Cineworld Group is amongst the best FTSE 250 performers, up 1.8%. The cinema chain operator reported a rise in revenue in the first 19 weeks of 2015 as sales grew in each of its divisions, and said it is confident it will meet market expectations for the full year. It said total sales in the 19 weeks to May 14 grew 26.8% on the year before, with the box office growing 23.8%, retail rising 27.9% and other income up 47.1%.
Still ahead in the economic calendar, the Confederation of British Industry's Distributive Trades Survey is at 1100 BST, and US durable goods orders are at 1330 BST. The US housing price index is at 1400 BST, before consumer confidence and new house sales at 1500 BST.
Futures indicate Wall Street for a lower open, with the DJIA and S&P 500 down 0.3%, and the Nasdaq 100 down 0.5%.
By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com; @NeilThakrar1
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
