London open: Banks weigh on Footsie lower early on

LONDON (ShareCast) - The FTSE 100 slipped towards the 5,700 level in early trade, with the banks providing a drag as investors digested the downgrade of five Eurozone nations and the ongoing talks in Greece. Fitch announced late on Friday to downgrade the ratings of five Eurozone nations - Italy, Spain, Belgium, Cyprus and Slovenia. "The Eurozone crisis will only be resolved as and when there is broad economic recovery," Fitch said. "It is evident that further substantial reforms of the governance of the Eurozone will be required to secure economic and financial stability, including greater fiscal integration." Barclays Capital analyst Guiseppe Maraffino said he expects a limited market reaction to the action as both the timing and size of the downgrades were expected. Meanwhile in Greece, the government and the Institute of International Finance (IIF) are thought to be "close" to reaching an agreement. Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos declared yesterday that a final debt-swap pact will be concluded this week. Greece needs to reach an agreement with its bondholders as one of the prerequisites to receiving a second bailout package from the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and the European Union worth €130bn. Meanwhile European leaders prepare to meet up in Brussels this afternoon for the EU summit. While they are expected to focus on the fiscal compact and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), leaders will undoubtedly be sidetracked by the current situation in Greece. BANKS LEAD THE DECLINE The banks led the fall in the opening hour, with Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) , Lloyds and Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) providing a drag. RBS continued to make the headlines on Monday morning after its Chief Executive Stephen Hester appears to have bowed in to public and political pressure and declined his bonus share award worth £963,000. Defensive stocks were in demand early on, with utilities National Grid (LSE: NG.L - news) , International Power (EUREX: IPRF.EX - news) and Centrica (LSE: CNA.L - news) among the highest risers. British Gas owner Centrica announced this morning that it would pay ConocoPhillips (EUREX: COPF.EX - news) $223m for its non-operated interests in the gas- and oil-producting Stratfjord field (and associated satellites) in the North Sea. FTSE 250 (FTSE: ^FTMC - news) : BTG (LSE: BGC.L - news) , CRANSWICK RISE EARLY ON Healthcare firm BTG rose after successfully completing the first phase of the US-based trial of Varisolve, a varicose vein treatment. Meats and 'foods-to-go' producer Cranswick (LSE: CWK.L - news) saw sales growth accelerate to 10% in the third quarter ended December 31st, from just 3% in the first half. Egypt-focused gold miner Centamin edged higher after achieving a record quarter of gold production in the last three months of the financial year, helped by higher output at its flagship Sukari mine and lower operating costs. Casinos group Rank was higher after confirming speculation that it is in talks with Gala Coral about the potential acquisition of Gala's casino business. Outsourcing and energy services company Mitie fell despite saying that revenues and earnings had come in in line with expectations from October 1st 2011 to date. Insurance (Euronext: SIN.NX - news) underwriter Lancashire Holdings (Other OTC: LCSHF.PK - news) was also lower as it said that it has increased its estimated losses resulting from the floods in Thailand and the Tohoku earthquake in Japan (EUREX: FMJP.EX - news) . BC FTSE 100 (Euronext: VFTSE.NX - news) - Risers ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM.L - news) (ARM) 599.00p +0.50% Diageo (Other OTC: DGEAF.PK - news) (DGE) 1,418.00p +0.46% British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 680.00p +0.44% International Power (IPR) 331.20p +0.36% Unilever (Amsterdam: UNIA.AS - news) (ULVR) 2,073.00p +0.24% CRH (CRH (Irish: CRG.IR - news) ) 1,282.00p +0.23% GlaxoSmithKline (Other OTC: GLAXF.PK - news) (GSK) 1,423.00p +0.18% United Utilities Group (UU.) 602.50p +0.17% Vodafone Group (VOD) 172.55p +0.17% Tesco (LSE: TSCO.L - news) (TSCO) 321.25p +0.16% FTSE 100 - Fallers Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 27.09p -2.34% Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY.L - news) (LLOY) 31.68p -2.28% Evraz (EVR) 449.60p -2.26% ITV (Other OTC: ITVPF.PK - news) (ITV) 75.65p -1.75% Whitbread (Other OTC: WTBCF.PK - news) (WTB) 1,661.00p -1.72% Barclays (BARC) 219.20p -1.64% Admiral Group (LSE: ADM.L - news) (ADM) 907.50p -1.41% Schroders (Berlin: PYX.BE - news) (SDR (SNP: ^SDRY - news) ) 1,500.00p -1.38% Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 718.50p -1.37% HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HCS-PB - news) (HSBA) 534.00p -1.31% FTSE 250 - Risers BTG (BGC) 343.30p +6.05% JD Sports Fashion (Xetra: 903386 - news) (JD.) 738.50p +3.29% Bumi (BUMI) 873.50p +3.07% Shanks Group (Other OTC: SHMCF.PK - news) (SKS) 100.00p +2.67% Bodycote (LSE: BOY.L - news) (BOY) 314.90p +2.61% Dairy Crest Group (Other OTC: DRCSF.PK - news) (DCG) 324.60p +2.56% Exillon Energy (Stuttgart: A0YG06 - news) (EXI) 262.90p +2.50% Rank Group (Xetra: A0LGPG - news) (RNK) 130.00p +2.36% Cranswick (CWK) 776.50p +2.31% AG Barr (BAG) 1,258.00p +2.28% FTSE 250 - Fallers AZ Electronic Materials SA (DI) (AZEM) 288.40p -4.03% Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 184.60p -3.85% Lancashire Holdings (LRE) 678.50p -3.76% Afren (LSE: AFR.L - news) (AFR) 120.30p -2.98% Mitie Group (Xetra: 864585 - news) (MTO) 255.30p -2.96% Lonmin (Berlin: LRH.BE - news) (LMI) 1,064.00p -2.56% Redrow (Xetra: 906188 - news) (RDW) 119.80p -2.36% Cape (LSE: CIU.L - news) (CIU) 376.00p -2.08% Misys (Xetra: 944235.DE - news) (MSY) 320.00p -2.08% Allied Gold Mining (ALD) 142.00p -2.07%