London midday: Banks, miners slip as risk appetite declines ahead of Greek vote

UK stocks slipped on a quiet Friday, with US markets closed ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and as investor sentiment remained driven by Sunday's upcoming referendum in Greece.With polls suggesting the Greek public's vote on bailout proposals remains too close to call, investors were scaling back their positions ahead of a crucial weekend for the government in Athens.The FTSE 100 was down 0.37% at 6,606.12 by midday, with depressed blue chips in the banking and mining sectors weighing on the index."For all the excitement the Greek situation brings to the markets, it also carries with it the interminable waiting periods that suffocate investors' appetites for risk, something that has been painfully evident this Friday," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.According to the head of the Hellenic Chambers of Commerce, Constantine Michalos, cash reserves at Greek banks were down to just €500m. Although banks were expected to reopen next week, Michalos said: "Anybody who thinks they are going to open again on Tuesday is day-dreaming. The cash would not last an hour."As equity markets on Wall Street are due be closed for a national holiday on Friday ahead of the weekend's Independence Day celebrations, there was very little in the way of economic data.The only major UK release of the morning was the Markit/CIPS UK services purchasing managers' index which rose to 58.5 in June from 56.5 in May, beating the 57.5 consensus forecast.Across the channel, figures released by Eurostat showed Eurozone retail sales rose 0.2% in May following a 0.7% increase in April, a touch ahead of expectations. The year-on-year increase of 2.4% was also a little ahead of estimates.Data released by Markit earlier showed the final Eurozone PMI composite output came in at 54.2 in June, up from 53.6 and in line with expectations.Banking and mining stocks dropRoyal Bank of Scotland was in the red on reports that it faces a $13bn claim over allegations regarding its actions before the 2008 crisis. The bank was involved in a long running case in a US court over how it packaged mortgage bonds and sold them to government lenders overseen by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.Standard Chartered and Barclays were also out of favour.Mining stocks were mostly lower, with heavyweights BHP Billiton, Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Glencore all trading lower. Anglo was also falling on rumours that the miner could cut up to 20% of its workforce at head offices worldwide.Defence group BAE Systems was making gains after UBS upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'neutral' but cut the price target to 510p from 540p.BT edged lower after Ofcom said that it has fined the telecom group's takeover target EE £1m for failing to comply with its rules on handling customer complaints.Meanwhile, real estate stocks were performing well, with British Land and Land Securities among the top risers on the FTSE 100.Market MoverstechMARK 3,129.24 -0.16%FTSE 100 6,606.12 -0.37%FTSE 250 17,640.41 -0.26%FTSE 100 - RisersAshtead Group (AHT) 1,075.00p +1.51%St James's Place (STJ) 927.50p +1.15%Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,246.00p +1.14%Hammerson (HMSO) 633.50p +1.12%Pearson (PSON) 1,228.00p +1.07%TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,053.00p +0.96%British Land Company (BLND) 808.00p +0.87%ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,046.00p +0.87%Sage Group (SGE) 514.50p +0.78%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 492.60p +0.69%FTSE 100 - FallersAnglo American (AAL) 895.90p -2.43%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,244.00p -2.24%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,031.50p -2.09%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 358.90p -1.97%Vodafone Group (VOD) 231.35p -1.93%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,585.00p -1.82%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 861.50p -1.71%Barclays (BARC) 262.40p -1.50%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,145.00p -1.46%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 177.70p -1.39%FTSE 250 - RisersAuto Trader Group (AUTO) 320.00p +4.47%Indivior (INDV) 232.30p +2.15%IMI (IMI) 1,171.00p +1.83%B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 352.50p +1.67%Cobham (COB) 266.40p +1.60%Renishaw (RSW) 2,287.00p +1.42%Cineworld Group (CINE) 484.90p +1.15%Workspace Group (WKP) 910.50p +1.11%Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,013.00p +1.10%Rightmove (RMV) 3,293.00p +1.07%FTSE 250 - FallersTullow Oil (TLW) 335.20p -4.23%AO World (AO.) 132.80p -4.05%Premier Oil (PMO) 145.00p -3.14%Just Retirement Group (JRG) 172.00p -3.10%FirstGroup (FGP) 116.40p -2.84%Serco Group (SRP) 127.10p -2.83%CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,858.00p -2.77%Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 148.00p -2.63%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,201.00p -2.36%Evraz (EVR) 111.40p -2.19%