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LONDON (Alliance News) - London's leading stock indices are trading lower mid-morning Friday, as investors continue to focus on Greek debt troubles awaiting US nonfarm payroll count at 1330 GMT.
The FTSE 100 is down 0.2% at 6,849.52, the FTSE 250 is down 0.3% at 16,652.18, but the AIM All-Share is outperforming trading up 0.3% at 699.95.
Companies in the FTSE 250 have taken centre stage so far Friday.
Shares in Tate & Lyle plummeted after the sugar company said it expects its full-year profit to fall below its guidance on the back of continuing problems in its bulk ingredients business and said it will take action to try to improve its operation and supply chain following prolonged issues. The company currently trades down 12%, making it by far the worst performer in the FTSE 250.
Poundland Group has risen to the top of the mid-cap index after the company snapped up rival 99p Stores in a GBP55 million cash and shares deal. The company said it will pay GBP47.5 million in cash for its fellow high-street discounter, along with a further GBP7.5 million in shares. Based on its current price of 391.00 pence, which is up 9.3% on the day, that would see Poundland issue 1.9 million shares. It said the equity placing will happen at or immediately prior to the closing of the deal and an increase in Poundland's revolving credit facilities.
Outsourcing company Capita is a strong performer in the FTSE 100 after it said it has been approved to join the lead provider framework for NHS England's commissioning support services. Capita said clinical commissioning groups in the UK will be required to re-procure many support services by April 2016 in order to comply with European procurement law. The company added that NHS England anticipates this will result in GBP3 billion to GBP5 billion in services being procured through the framework. Capita shares are up 1.3%.
GlaxoSmithKline, up 1.6%, is another big blue-chip gainer. The pharmaceutical giant said it has received positive results from the phase 3 study investigating the combination of the dabrafenib and trametinib drugs. Glaxo said the overall survival rates from the combination of the drugs showed a statistically significant fall in the risk of death from combining the pair in comparison to dabrafenib monotherapy in patients with BRAF V600E/K mutation-positive metastatic melanoma.
European indices are trading lower. The French CAC 40 is down 0.4%, and the German DAX 30 is down 0.8%. German industrial production grew at a slower-than-expected rate in December. A report released by the Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland said production grew month-on-month by 0.1%, the same as the revised figure for November. The sector was expected to show a growth of 0.4%.
Following talks on Thursday with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, known for his hardline stance on eurozone fiscal issues, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis called for "bridging" finance until a new agreement between Athens and its lenders could be negotiated. He said he was not seeking to have any of Greece's sovereign debt wiped out.
"The press conference after the Varoufakis/Schauble summit effectively captured the schism that is arising in the Eurozone, and even though Syriza have maintained their swell of support in-country, they are facing ever-growing pressures to deliver results," says Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.
In the economic calendar, alongside US nonfarm payrolls is the US unemployment rate and earnings data at 1330 GMT.
US stock futures indicate the DJIA, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 all to open flat to fractionally higher.
By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com; @NeilThakrar1
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