London open: Focus shifting from Greece to central banks

(ShareCast News) - Bank Rate might be headed higher sooner than markets expect, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney told an audience last night at Lincoln Cathedral.The central bank chief said: "In my view, the decision as to when to start such a process of adjustment will likely come into sharper relief around the turn of this year."Those remarks weighed on the Footsie at the start of the session despite strong gains overnight on Wall Street, with the technology-heavy Nasdaq-100 setting a fresh 15-year record closing high. In parallel, oil futures Stateside moved even lower to approach the $50 per barrel mark.As 08:42 the FTSE 100 was lower by 5.09 points lower at 6,791.09.The focus on Friday was expected to be the vote in Germany's parliament which might clear the way for the start of negotiations with Greece for a third bailout package.Lawmakers were expected to give their support to such a move, but opposition to further aid for Greece was rising. In a test vote on Thursday 48 members of Chancellor Angela Merkel's own conservative party voted against new negotiations, up from the 29 who opposed an extension of the current rescue package back in February."The final bailout agreement and the way it was reached has probably raised more questions than it's solved for the long-term future of Europe. In the short-term though, with Greece fixed, or at least plastered over, market attention is shifting back to the central bank outlook and corporate earnings," Jasper Lawler, Market Analyst at CMC Markets, wrote in a research note e-mailed to clients.M&S's Dixon to step downOnline gambling company 888 Holdings has agreed to buy Bwin.party Digital Entertainment in a cash and stock deal worth around £898.3m, beating a rival offer from GVC. Bwin shareholders will receive 39.45p and 0.404 new 888 shares for each share they own. The offer represents a value of around 104.9p per Bwin share, which is a premium of approximately 16.4% cent to the closing price of Bwin on 14 May, which is the last business day before Bwin announced talks about a possible tie-up.Marks & Spencer said John Dixon, the executive director of its general merchandise division, will step down from the board with immediate effect and leave the company on a day to be agreed, to pursue other career opportunities. Steve Rowe will take on responsibility for the general merchandise business, while Andy Adcock, who is currently trading director of the food division, will step up to be the director of Food.IAG moved closer on Thursday to clinching a takeover of Aer Lingus after receiving the US regulator's go-ahead and the Irish carrier's shareholders backed special resolutions linked to the deal.Russian mining company Evraz said crude steel output was down 14% quarter on quarter, at 3.4mt. Evraz blamed the fall on the deconsolidation of its South African producer and repair and maintenance at Russian mills.HomeServe is trading in line with its expectations and expects to deliver good growth in 2016. In a trading update for 1 April to 17 July, the home emergency business said that in line with the strategy it previously outlined, it continues to invest for customer growth across its international business and, as in prior years, the majority of marketing activity will be weighted towards the second half.RBC Capital Markets upgraded GKN to 'sector perform' from 'underperform' but trimmed its target price to 320p from 330p. It noted that GKN shares have underperformed sector peers year-to-date and are now trading at a relatively untesting multiple, even on the bank's consensus forecasts.Market MoverstechMARK 3,186.75 -0.18%FTSE 100 6,780.55 -0.23%FTSE 250 17,739.56 -0.15%FTSE 100 - RisersIntertek Group (ITRK) 2,443.00p +1.41%ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,026.00p +0.79%Pearson (PSON) 1,272.00p +0.71%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,672.00p +0.66%Sage Group (SGE) 538.00p +0.56%GKN (GKN) 313.70p +0.42%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 785.00p +0.38%Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,109.00p +0.38%United Utilities Group (UU.) 885.50p +0.34%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 182.10p +0.33%FTSE 100 - FallersBarratt Developments (BDEV) 636.00p -1.24%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 539.50p -1.19%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 188.90p -1.05%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,240.50p -1.00%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,369.50p -0.94%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,820.50p -0.82%AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,304.50p -0.74%Mondi (MNDI) 1,505.00p -0.73%Antofagasta (ANTO) 654.00p -0.68%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,844.00p -0.62%FTSE 250 - RisersZoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 248.20p +3.12%B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 346.30p +1.85%Aldermore Group (ALD) 251.50p +1.82%Just Eat (JE.) 434.10p +1.66%Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 346.00p +1.62%Vedanta Resources (VED) 473.70p +1.37%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 148.00p +1.37%Rotork (ROR) 218.00p +1.11%Card Factory (CARD) 324.40p +0.96%Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 597.50p +0.93%FTSE 250 - FallersRestaurant Group (RTN) 665.50p -3.13%Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 572.50p -2.80%Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,120.00p -2.10%Halfords Group (HFD) 539.00p -1.73%CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,810.00p -1.63%Ocado Group (OCDO) 457.60p -1.59%Polymetal International (POLY) 491.50p -1.50%Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 157.50p -1.44%WH Smith (SMWH) 1,584.00p -1.37%Inchcape (INCH) 773.00p -1.34%