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LONDON (Alliance News) - London share prices are set to open lower Friday, as confidence in a deal emerging from the Greek debt negotiations took a hit late Thursday, with stock indices across Europe giving back almost half of their earlier gains late in trading.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 25 points lower at 6,821.6. The index closed up 0.2% at 6,846.74 on Thursday, having reached a peak of 6,870.19.
The International Monetary Fund's technical team left bailout talks with Greece in Brussels and returned to Washington with the sides "well away from an agreement", IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said Thursday.
"There are major differences between us in most key areas," according to Rice. "There has been no progress in narrowing these differences recently."
The IMF spokesman noted the "urgency" of the talks, but he added there is "no real schedule here" for negotiations. "The IMF never leaves the table," Rice said. "We remain engaged, but the ball is very much in Greece's court right now."
CMC Markets UK chief market analyst Michael Hewson comments: "The logjam appears to revolve around pension and labour market reform, which Greece remains unwilling to compromise on, and when looking at the demonstrations that took place back in Athens yesterday it?s not hard to see why."
"Even if Greece does compromise on the issues the IMF wants change on, there is no guarantee that they would be able to implement them and therein lies the rub," writes Hewson.
Despite the IMF's leaving, Greece's State Minister Alekos Flabouraris was optimistic talking to Greek television ERT, Reuters reported Friday.
"I hope [a deal] will come very soon, on June 18, when the Eurogroup takes place," said Flabouraris.
Lloyds Bank economist Rhys Herbert agrees: "We treat the June 18 [Eurogroup meeting] as the deal-maker date as the meetings over the past three days confirmed the strong political will for an agreement as soon as possible."
Wall Street ended higher Thursday. The DJIA and the S&P 500 ended up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.1%.
In Asia on Friday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 closed up 0.1%. Meanwhile, the Hang Seng trades up 0.6% and the Shanghai Composite is up 1.0%.
Japan's industrial production climbed more than initially estimated in April, latest figures from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed Friday. Industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 1.2% month-over-month in April, revised up from a 1.0% gain in the flash data. It was the first increase in three months. In March, production had fallen 0.8%.
In the corporate front, fashion retailer Ted Baker Friday said it is on track to meet expectations for its full year following a strong start, with revenue up 24.2% in the eighteen weeks from the beginning of February to June 6.
Retail sales during the period were up 18.9%, or 18.1% at constant currency, the company said. E-commerce sales rose 46.9%, driven by further growth in the UK and a strong performance from Ted Baker's US site, as well as a contribution from its new Canadian site launched at the end of 2014.
GlaxoSmithKline said the Pulmonary Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee of the US Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously that efficacy and safety data for mepolizumab supported its approval for adults aged 18 or older with severe asthma.
Meanwhile, Royal Dutch Shell has notified Ukraine that it will pull out of a shale gas exploration project in the east of the country, the Financial Times reported Thursday, as a result of the ongoing conflict in the region.
Insiders cited heightened geopolitical risk and sharp drop in global oil prices, which has made shale gas exploration projects less attractive, the report says.
In a light economic calendar Friday, eurozone industrial production is due at 1000 BST. In the US, producer price index is due at 1330 BST, while Reuters/Michigan consumer sentiment index is due at 1500 BST.
By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com
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