REX.L Share News (REX)

UK stocks fell for a second day on Thursday as optimism surrounding the situation in Greece began to fade and a raft of corporate earnings and updates received a mixed reaction from the market.London's FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 6,830 by midday, though had bounced off a low of 6,808.19 reached early on. Stocks have continued retreat since the UK index settled at 6,871.80 on Tuesday, its highest close since early September 2014.The European Central Bank (ECB) said in a statement late on Wednesday that it will lift the waiver on using Greek government bonds as collateral for lending to its banks. It said the decision was "based on the fact that it is currently not possible to assume a successful conclusion of the [bailout] programme review".The comments came as the newly-elected Greek government seeks to ease the terms of its €240bn bailout with its creditors.Greek banks will still be able to access funding via the Enhance Liquidity Assistance (ELA) programme run by its central bank, though at a much higher cost."The ECB is trying to keep Greece in line by cancelling its acceptance of Greek government bonds in exchange for funding, and this has sent a ripple through equity markets," said David Madden from IG. "The ECB is showing Athens who is boss, and the move has crushed Greece under the weight of its own debt."In other news, the Bank of England announced at noon that it had kept the Bank Rate at the record-low level of 0.5% and its asset purchases programme at £375bn, as expected by the market.Economic data was also keeping investors busy on Thursday morning, with figures showing a better-than-expected jump in German factory orders, a contraction in Eurozone like-for-like retail sales, and an easing in the growth rate of UK new car registrations. Jobless claims and trade data will be out Stateside later on.Meanwhile, the European Commission raised its growth forecasts for the Eurozone for 2015 and 2016 due to the effect of lower oil prices a weaker euro.Corporate updates come in mixedBT surged after confirming reports it has settled on terms of its acquisition of EE from Deutsche Telekom and Orange, saying it will be spending £12.5bn on the UK mobile network. The deal will be financed by new debt and a £1bn placing of its shares and will result in Deutsche Telekom and Orange taking 12% and 4% stakes in BT, respectively.Smith & Nephew rose after seeing a 6% increase in annual revenue as weak results at its advanced wound management business were offset by a strong performance at its US hip and knee implants division.Catering company Compass was also higher as it reported a good start to its new financial year, with organic revenue up more than expected in the first quarter.Heading the other way was Astrazeneca after earnings per share fell more than expected in the fourth quarter, dragging the full-year number short of the market's target.Vodafone dialed in a smaller-than-expected 0.4% decline in organic service revenues in the third quarter thanks to a steady recovery in Europe and a return to growth in the UK, though investors were largely underwhelmed.Easyjet fell after saying that passenger numbers were flat at the budget airline in January, while planes were not as full as they were a year earlier. The carrier flew just over 4.02m customers last month, representing no change from January 2014.Electronics group Premier Farnell sank after warning that annual operating profits will be lower than last year's.Meanwhile, rumours that Rexam has attracted interest from private-equity investors caused shares in the beverage can marker to jump.Market MoverstechMARK 3,089.19 +0.20%FTSE 100 6,830.04 -0.44%FTSE 250 16,610.02 +0.23%FTSE 100 - RisersBT Group (BT.A) 440.20p +4.07%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,189.00p +1.80%ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,086.00p +1.59%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,499.00p +1.56%Tullow Oil (TLW) 401.70p +1.47%Compass Group (CPG) 1,161.00p +1.31%GKN (GKN) 378.70p +0.96%Severn Trent (SVT) 2,132.00p +0.80%Capita (CPI) 1,133.00p +0.71%Sky (SKY) 962.00p +0.68%FTSE 100 - FallersGlencore (GLEN) 260.00p -2.62%AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,581.50p -2.27%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,494.00p -2.16%Vodafone Group (VOD) 231.55p -2.09%ITV (ITV) 226.10p -1.95%easyJet (EZJ) 1,749.00p -1.63%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 374.60p -1.63%Fresnillo (FRES) 875.00p -1.46%Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,065.00p -1.30%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,156.00p -1.28%FTSE 250 - RisersRexam (REX) 575.00p +28.46%Alent (ALNT) 379.90p +4.14%AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 965.00p +4.04%Lonmin (LMI) 178.40p +3.54%Vedanta Resources (VED) 463.60p +3.21%Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 54.40p +2.74%Ted Baker (TED) 2,384.00p +2.63%AO World (AO.) 326.20p +2.10%Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 284.00p +1.79%Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 226.50p +1.75%FTSE 250 - FallersAfren (AFR) 10.00p -9.91%Premier Farnell (PFL) 153.70p -9.27%Ocado Group (OCDO) 414.30p -3.94%Victrex plc (VCT) 2,024.00p -3.25%Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 571.00p -3.22%Drax Group (DRX) 365.40p -2.59%Telecity Group (TCY) 861.00p -2.55%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,630.00p -1.83%BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 315.50p -1.81%Electrocomponents (ECM) 205.30p -1.63%