London close: Stocks rebound as investors digest Greek rumours

UK stocks bounced strongly on Wednesday after hitting a new five-month low the previous day as investors continued to digest the latest news flow from Greece, after Athens became the first developed economy to default on a debt repayment to the IMF.The FTSE 100, which settled at its lowest since 12 January on Tuesday, advanced 87.61 points (+1.34%) to 6,608.59 by the close.Markets jumped in morning trade on speculation that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was reconsidering creditors' bailout proposals tabled last weekend, with only a handful of minor changes. The reports followed a missed €1.6bn IMF payment and expiry of the existing bailout programme on Tuesday.However, Tsipras said in a televised afternoon statement that the government would still go ahead with a referendum on 5 July as planned. The Prime Minister reiterated his call for the Greek public to vote 'no' in Sunday's referendum but said he had no intention to lead Greece out of euro area."True to form, today has seen more rumours and conjecture than hard facts, but the stance of Syriza is perceived to be softening as Alexis Tsipras realises that with every day that passes the chance of him having to leave office due to a 'yes' vote increases," said IG analyst Joshua Mahony.He added: "The rule of calling a referendum is only to call one if you know you will win, but unfortunately this is no certainty for Mr Tsipras."In economic data on Wednesday, the Markit/CIPS UK manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) unexpectedly fell from a revised 51.9 in May to a 26-month low of 51.4 in June.Overnight, the official China manufacturing PMI was unchanged at 50.2 in June, missing the 50.4 estimate, while the non-manufacturing PMI rose to 53.8 from 53.2.Meanwhile, the ISM US manufacturing index rose to 53.5 in June from 52.8 the previous month, beating the 53.2 estimate.Banks and travel stocks riseBanking giants RBS, Standard Chartered, Lloyds and Barclays were all making gains in London, having fallen sharply - along with the wider market - over recent sessions.Similarly, travel and leisure stocks were also rebounding after a recent sell-off, including Easyjet, IAG, TUI and IHG. The sector had been hit by the potential impact on tourism from the Greek debt crisis and recent terrorist attacks.Airlines were also performing well after an Airports Commission report declared that a third runway should be built at Heathrow. The Commission said the runway was "crucial for the UK's long-term prosperity".Profits in the first half of the year at outsourcer Serco were flat compared to the previous year but "a little better" than predicted, causing shares to jump. However, management have not altered their expectations for the full year.Pub group Greene King edged higher as it reported record retail revenue of £1bn in its full-year results, although profits leaked lower as a result of a decline in like-for-like sales and the impact of the disposal of 275 pubs to Hawthorn Leisure.Tullow Oil gained after taking action to "re-set" the business for the new oil price environment. The company also slightly increased its guidance for full-year production after enjoying strong West Africa oil production in the first half.A number of mining stocks were putting a lid on gains for the Footsie, with Randgold Resources, Antofagasta, Anglo American, Glencore and Fresnillo all finishing in the red.Market MoverstechMARK 3,128.69 +1.47%FTSE 100 6,608.59 +1.34%FTSE 250 17,717.05 +1.06%FTSE 100 - RisersRoyal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 362.70p +3.19%Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 440.60p +3.16%TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,061.00p +3.01%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,641.00p +2.92%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 632.00p +2.85%Prudential (PRU) 1,575.00p +2.77%Reed Elsevier (REL) 1,063.00p +2.71%AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,120.50p +2.53%ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,063.00p +2.51%Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,234.00p +2.49%FTSE 100 - FallersRandgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,215.00p -1.63%Tesco (TSCO) 209.60p -1.39%Antofagasta (ANTO) 680.50p -1.31%Anglo American (AAL) 910.10p -0.91%Glencore (GLEN) 253.00p -0.90%Fresnillo (FRES) 690.50p -0.50%BP (BP.) 419.15p -0.24%FTSE 250 - RisersSerco Group (SRP) 125.70p +6.53%Aveva Group (AVV) 1,883.00p +4.15%Ocado Group (OCDO) 463.10p +3.86%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 354.90p +3.71%Betfair Group (BET) 2,495.00p +3.70%AA (AA.) 383.20p +3.37%DCC (DCC) 5,155.00p +3.10%Hiscox Limited (CDI) (HSX) 864.50p +3.04%Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 161.50p +3.00%Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 366.60p +2.98%FTSE 250 - FallersZoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 258.20p -7.12%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,179.00p -3.12%Lonmin (LMI) 108.70p -2.86%Acacia Mining (ACA) 295.00p -2.29%Evraz (EVR) 120.50p -2.19%Vedanta Resources (VED) 509.00p -2.12%Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 580.00p -2.11%Tullow Oil (TLW) 333.00p -1.97%Cairn Energy (CNE) 166.50p -1.94%Premier Oil (PMO) 146.30p -1.88%