London midday: Stocks edge higher as Greek worries ebb

LONDON (ShareCast) - London shares were holding higher just past the mid-point of the session but still lagging their Eurozone counterparts, as investors waited for Wall Street to open. Reports citing EU officials said the Eurogroup of finance ministers would be prepared to authorise aid payments to Greece if the reform measures presented by Athens are accepted.

On 10 March analysts at Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) estimated the Mediterranean country might be left facing a funding gap of between €10bn-€11bn by the end of the month if no agreement is reached.

The Greek government is now expected to present its reforms in the next days after wrangling with EU leaders who will then decide on their viability. In reaction to the above Greek 10-year government yields were down by 21 basis points to 11.64% after earlier hitting an intra-day high of 12.13%.

At 12:17 GMT, the FTSE 100 rose 0.2% or 13.95 points to 6976.27, trading up near its all-time highs.

Augustin Eden at Accendo Markets questioned whether there is potential for the index to test the 7000 level before the weekend. "Resistance-turned-support possible around 6980. Bulls looking for a final surge past 7000 while bears will look to another sell off before the weekend," said Eden.

TSB, CRH (NYSE: CRH - news) , Tullow in the news TSB Banking Group's shares rose 2% after Spain's Banco de Sabadell (Other OTC: BNDSF - news) approved the purchase of the British bank at 340p per share with major shareholder Lloyds Banking Group accepting the offer as expected.

CRH was the biggest gainer on the Footsie after building materials giants Lafarge (Paris: FR0000120537 - news) and Holcim (Other OTC: HCMLF - news) agreed upon terms for a merger.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW.L - news) vaulted higher after the West Africa-focused exploration outfit announced it had successfully negotiated for access to £450m in fresh financing.

Meanwhile, real estate giant British Land (LSE: BLND.L - news) exchanged £733m worth of joint venture properties with supermarket titan Tesco (Xetra: 852647 - news) and pharma group Glaxosmithkline (Other OTC: GLAXF - news) and Italian pharma group MolMed signed a strategic collaboration agreement in gene therapy.

Housebuilder Berkeley Group reiterated its earnings guidance for the next three years to 2017 as management demonstrated their confidence in the UK housing market recovery.

Royal Dutch Shell (Xetra: R6C1.DE - news) has sold off a portion of its upstream assets in Nigeria for $737m cash to local operator Eroton Exploration & Production.

Elsewhere, shares in Gulfsands Petroleum (LSE: GPX.L - news) slumped 16% to trade at 2195p after the oil and gas producer warned on finances, saying it needs $15m in new capital to fund its planned operational activities over the next 12 months.

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