06/02/12 - 23:30
UK Research Team, IG Group
The FTSE® 100 was down by 10 points to 5890 at 12.30pm (London time), while the FTSE® 250 was also lower, at 11,230 on the back of uncertainty over the Greek deal. Greece has returned to the take centre-stage in the markets once again.
FTSE® weaker over the ongoing Greek debt situation
The FTSE® 100 fell for the first time in five days this morning, as the Greek debt crisis overshadowed news of better-than-expected jobs data out of the US on Friday. Bank shares fell, with Barclays and Standard Chartered falling 2.33% and 1.14% respectively, while Lloyds and HSBC bucked the trend by rising 2% and 1.57% respectively. Glencore International fell by 3.9% as the Financial Times reported the commodities trader was set to offer a bigger-than-expected premium to seal its proposed $88 billion merger with global miner Xstrata.
Mining sector mixed
Randgold was up more than 3% on the back of bumper earnings due to higher gold production from its mines in Ivory Coast. The gold giant announced that profit soared by 259% in 2011, prompting the doubling of its dividend to 40p. This was largely in line with the indication given in November which is why its shares only rose by 3%.
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