LONDON (Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 is called to open slightly lower Friday, easing after three consecutive sessions of gains, with the corporate calendar lighter than in previous days this week and amid renewed concerns about Greece.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open lower at 6,677.5. The index closed up 0.6% at 6,668.87 on Thursday, driven by company updates from a number of heavily weighted stocks, but the market was knocked back a bit in late trading after the Financial Times reported that the International Monetary Fund has been told it cannot join the Greek debt bailout.
The board of the IMF has been told that Greece's high debt levels and poor record of implementing reforms disqualify the country from receiving a third bailout from the international lender, raising new questions about whether it will join the latest financial rescue for Greece being put together by eurozone creditors, the Financial Times reported.
The FT said members of the IMF board were told this during a meeting on Wednesday, and the determination means that, while the IMF will participate in the bailout negotiations currently ongoing in Athens, it will not decide whether to agree to a new programme for months and potentially into next year, the newspaper said.
That delay could have significant repercussions, particularly in Germany, where officials have long claimed it would be impossible to secure approval from the Bundestag for the new EUR86 billion bailout package without the IMF being on board.
A Greek Finance Ministry official denied the report, saying the IMF would participate in the bailout negotiations as planned. Delia Velculescu, the International Monetary Fund's head of mission, arrived in Athens on Thursday.
The country's ruling Syriza party will hold an emergency party congress in September to settle the rift between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the party's left wing, Syriza's central committee decided late Thursday.
In a televised address to the central committee, Tsipras warned that the government could fall if not supported by its leftist deputies.
"The first leftist government in Europe after the Second World War is either supported by leftist deputies, or it is brought down by them because it is not considered leftist," he said.
On Wall Street Thursday, the DJIA and the S&P 500 both ended flat and the Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.3%.
In Asia Friday, the Nikkei in Tokyo is up 0.1%, the Hang Seng trades up 0.3%, while the Shanghai Composite is down 1.0%.
The unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 3.4% in June, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said. That was above forecasts for 3.3%, which would have been unchanged from the May reading.
Meanwhile consumer prices in Japan gained 0.4% on year in June, the Ministry said. That beat expectations for an increase of 0.3%, although it slowed from 0.5% in May. On a monthly basis, inflation dipped 0.2%.
In the UK corporate calendar, there are half-year results expected from Lloyds Banking Group, International Consolidated Airlines Group, BG Group, Berendsen, UBM, Colt Group, IMI, Vedanta Resources, Vesuvius, Essentra and Alent.
In the economic calendar, German retail sales is at 0700 BST ahead of eurozone consumer prices at 1000 BST. In the afternoon, Chicago purchasing managers index is at 1445 BST and the Reuters/Michigan consumer sentiment index is at 1500 BST.
By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com; @NeilThakrar1
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