LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Stocks Mixed As Greek Deal Remains Elusive

LONDON (Alliance News) - London stock prices are mixed midday Thursday, against a backdrop of uncertainty, as Bloomberg reports that Greece and its creditors failed to reach an agreement ahead of a meeting of Eurogroup finance ministers.

The FTSE 100 trades down 0.1% at 6,838.96, the FTSE 250 is up 0.1% at 17,941.78, and the AIM All-Share is up 0.3% at 773.35.

In Europe, the French CAC 40 is up 0.3%, while the German DAX 30 is up 0.5%.

Ahead of the US open, futures are pointing the DJIA and S&P 500 up 0.3% and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.2%.

Greece and its debt problems continue to be the main driver for equity markets in Europe and the US as it has failed so far to reach a deal with its creditors to unlock its remaining bailout funds ahead of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers. The Greek government and the country's international creditors continue marathon talks Thursday on how to avoid a bankruptcy by the Mediterranean-country, just hours before an European Council summit meant to bookend the crisis.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met Thursday morning in Brussels with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, ahead of another eurogroup meeting at 1230 BST, before the European Council summit scheduled for 1400 BST.

In domestic economic news, the pound rose strongly against other major currencies as British retailers said their sales growth slowed in June but it is expected to improve next month, according to the latest monthly Distributive Trades Survey from the Confederation of British Industry. About 44% of retailers said sales volumes increased from a year ago, while 15% said they were down, giving a balance of +29% for June.

The pound currently trades the dollar at USD1.5710 and the euro at EUR1.4027.

On the London Stock Exchange, private equity houses Affinity Equity Partners, Carlyle Group and CVC Capital Partners are understood to be among the preliminary bidders for Tesco's South Korean business, Reuters reported. The news agency, citing a report in the Korea Economic Daily, said MBK Partners, Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Area, TPG and snack maker Orion Corp also are involved in the bidding. The South Korean arm of the UK supermarket chain is expected to fetch around USD6 billion in the sale. Tesco trades up 0.9%.

UK blue-chips Experian, Compass Group and United Utilities Group are joined Thursday by mid-caps JD Sports Fashion, Mercantile Investment Trust, Electrocomponents, MITIE Group, and Paypoint, amongst others, in going ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payout.

DS Smith trades up 2.9%, after the packaging company said its pretax profit rose in its financial year to the end of March as it managed to bring down its cost of sales sufficiently to offset lower revenue and said it has struck a EUR190 million deal to acquire a new corrugated packaging operation in Spain.

Daniel Stewart Securities is the best performer in the AIM All-Share index, up 48% after it said it has raised GBP1.2 million through a cash subscription with investors, higher than originally intended. In a statement, the investment bank said the subscription means it will issue 35.8 million shares at 3.35 pence per share. The stock is currently quoted at 3.07p.

On the other side of the AIM index, Independent Resources is off 29%. The oil and gas company reflected on a frustrating year trying, and failing, to acquire an interest in a producing asset, but reported a narrower pretax loss in 2014. It reported a GBP1.6 million pretax loss in 2014, significantly narrowing from a GBP3.0 million loss in 2013. The loss narrowed because a GBP1.5 million loss was recorded in 2013 in relation to the reorganisation of the Rivera gas storage facility in Italy, which was not repeated in 2014.

Trap Oil Group, down 26%, failed to find hydrocarbons at the Niobe exploration well in the UK North Sea, and warned it will need to raise further cash as its bank balance dwindles after reaching a settlement deal with its two main creditors. The drilling of the Niobe exploration well has fulfilled the license obligation, but as it failed to find any hydrocarbons, will be plugged and abandoned.

Still ahead in the economic calendar, US jobs data and personal consumption data are scheduled to be published at 1330 BST, while Markit Economics releases its US composite and services purchasing managers' index data for June at 1445 BST. US Energy Information Administration gas storage change information is due at 1530 BST, with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's quarterly survey of manufacturing activity scheduled shortly after at 1600 BST.

By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com; @NeilThakrar1

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