MARKET COMMENT: London Ends Lower Amid Of Greek Debt Meeting

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares closed lower Monday after a quiet session, as a Eurogroup meeting got underway but was not expected to bring any definitive decision on Greece, and as the market pondered a potential summer rate hike by the US Federal Reserve following Friday's strong US jobs report.

The FTSE 100 was down during the whole session and closed down 0.5% at 6,876.47. The FTSE 250 ended down 0.6% at 17,167.07, while the AIM All-Share index slipped 0.3% at 715.94.

European indices were mixed, with the CAC 40 in Paris down 0.6%, and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt up 0.3%.

Eurozone finance ministers started their meeting in Brussels, where the new list of reforms submitted by Greece is set to dominate the agenda. However, they are unlikely to reach a decision on approving the Greek proposals, which is crucial for the country to access further creditor support.

Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Sunday that the reform proposals put forward by Greece are far from complete, while German finance ministry Wolfgang Schauble said the Eurogroup meeting is unlikely to result in a decision on Greece, as more details on proposed measures are required before any release of funds.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras last Friday sent a prepared list of reforms to Dijsselbloem in order to unlock aid funds from euro area lenders. The list of measures is said to have included tax avoidance steps.

Just ahead of Monday's meeting, Dijsselbloem said Greece must present further reform proposals. "Of the 20 measures that the Greeks had to take, they have presented six," Dijsselbloem told Dutch daily De Volkskrant, adding: "It will be a drawn-out process."

Meanwhile, Greece Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said in an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that a referendum or early election is possible if discussions with Eurogroup fail.

"Greece seems to think it can have its cake and eat it too, and while Athens is unwilling to play ball with Brussels, it will hold the FTSE 100 back from retargeting its record high," said IG Markets analyst David Madden.

A EUR1.1 trillion stimulus programme by the European Central Bank got underway Monday. The ECB's plans to spend EUR60 billion a month on buying state and private sector debt assets has already led to solid gains in European stocks. It also has pushed government bond yields in parts of the eurozone into negative territory, which should, in theory, promote investment.

However, James Hughes, chief market analyst at eToro said: "The bond buying program by the ECB is way overdue in terms of saving the Eurozone economy and it could be that this becomes an even harder sell over the next few months."

"Far from ushering in a new era of economic prosperity it seems that [ECB President] Mario Draghi is looking at potentially the final nail in the Eurozone coffin, as it becomes more and more apparent that the Eurozone is a model that is no longer viable, which has pretty much been the case for the last 3 years," Hughes adds.

Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs predicted on Monday that oil prices could fall to USD40.00 a barrel. "Our expectation going forward is...for the global crude inventory build to resume. As a result, and absent further unexpected OPEC disruptions, we expect Brent oil prices and timespreads to reverse their recent strength, although the lack of a meaningful build in the past few months leaves risk to our forecast for [West Texas Intermediate] oil prices remaining at USD40.00 per barrel for two quarters skewed to the upside," writes Goldman.

The price of Brent crude oil was quoted Monday afternoon down at USD59.03 per barrel, while WTI was up at USD50.26 a barrel.

In London, WPP was one of the biggest gainers in the FTSE 100, up 1.2%. The media buying giant reported 2014 profit growth that met market expectations, as it posted further strong growth in emerging markets, but also a strong performance in the US and UK, and a performance in continental Europe that belied the economic downturn in the region.

WPP also predicted similar sales growth in 2015, despite the lack of major events to spur advertising, after getting off to a strong start in January, and sweetened the results for investors by hitting its new dividend payout target a year ahead of schedule and saying it would soon consider another increase to the target.

RSA Insurance Group was among the biggest fallers in the blue-chip index, down 1.3% at 412.40p. Goldman Sachs downgraded the insurer's rating to Sell from Neutral, cutting its price target to 385p from 445p, on fears around its operating earnings and returns targets, as well as concerns that RSA's pension liabilities are an obstacle to a potential break-up of the group.

In the FTSE 250, Hansteen Holdings lost 1.5%, even though the property investor said its pretax profit doubled in 2014, as it sold properties into the buoyant UK property investment market. Hansteen raised its dividend and announced a special dividend, as it also gave a positive outlook.

At London close, Wall Street was trading mostly higher, with the DJIA up 0.6%, the S&P 500 up 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite flat, as US investors were keenly awaiting Apple's latest product unveil.

In the UK corporate calendar Tuesday, G4S, Esure Group, Cairn Energy, Inchcape, John Menzies, Hill & Smith Holdings and Bango are expected to publish full-year results at 0700 GMT, while Prudential will publish its full-year figures at 0815 GMT. Close Brothers, St Ives and Craneware will report half year results, while Ocado Group will issue a first-quarter trading statement.

In the economic calendar, China's consumer price index is at 0130 GMT. In Europe, industrial output figures from France and Italy are at 0745 GMT and 0900 GMT, respectively. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will give a speech scheduled for 1435 GMT. In the US, the Redbook index index is at 1255 GMT, while JOLTS Job openings and wholesale inventories are at 1400 GMT.

By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com

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