London midday: Greek fears hit sentiment as stocks retreat ahead of US session

LONDON (ShareCast) - Ongoing uncertainty over Greece gave investors an excuse to take profits on Thursday, with UK stocks pulling back from record levels ahead of what is expected to be a busy session in the States. "Fears over Greece continued to dominate Thursday morning, leaving the Eurozone indices in a sorry state as the day continued," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.

London's FTSE 100 was down 0.41% at 7,067.50 by midday, with a number of blue chips trading lower after going ex-dividend.

The index was retreating from Wednesday's all-time closing high of 7,096.78; it also set a record intraday high of 7,111.72 during the previous session.

Developments in Greece were weighing on sentiment after reports that Athens made an informal approach to the International Monetary Fund about delaying loan repayments, only to be told that rescheduling was not possible. The IMF is owed nearly €1bn in two payments due in May.

German finance minster Wolfgang Schäuble said on Wednesday that an agreement between Greece and its international creditors is unlikely to be reached at the next Eurogroup meeting on 24 April.

Meanwhile, an advisor to the Greek government has reportedly suggested that the government may hold a referendum.

US events in focus Wall Street stock futures were trading lower as investors showed caution ahead a raft of US economic data , including building permits, housing starts, jobless claims and the Philly Fed index. Figures released early on Wednesday mostly disappointed, with New York manufacturing and US industrial production both falling.

Earnings season is also set to continue with results from banking heavyweights Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB - news) and Citigroup .

Federal Reserve officials Dennis Lockhart and Stanley Fisher , both of whom are voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee, are both due to speak later on Thursday with markets on the look-out for comments about the first rate hike.

The Fed's Beige Book released on Wednesday evening showed that the economy improved in February and March despite recent bad weather. However, the outlook was subdued, with growth being described as "moderate" and "slight" across many regions.

Ex-div stocks, Telecom Plus (LSE: TEP.L - news) and Petra fall Footsie constituents BAE Systems (LSE: BA.L - news) , Hikma Pharmaceuticals (LSE: HIK.L - news) , Capita (LSE: CPI.L - news) , Intu Properties (LSE: INTU.L - news) , Smith & Nephew (LSE: SN.L - news) and Reckitt Benckiser (Xetra: A0M1W6 - news) were all trading with heavy losses after going ex-dividend.

UBS (NYSEArca: FBGX - news) was providing further downwards pressure on aerospace and defence group BAE after cutting the stock from 'buy' to 'neutral', saying "we do not believe there is sufficient upside potential to maintain the 'buy' rating".

On the 250 Telecom Plus shares plummeted 18.5% after the group warned that profit growth for 2015 and 2016 will be well below market expectations as the Utility Warehouse owner unexpectedly wrote down a large amount of unbilled customer debt.

Petra Diamonds (LSE: PDL.L - news) plunged 11.6% as the diamond mining group said its annual results are expected to fall below market forecasts due to poorer diamond grades it found at its Cullinanin mine in South Africa.

Consumer goods colossus Unilever (NYSE: UL - news) jumped after enjoying a strong start to 2015 with underlying sales for the first quarter ahead of analysts' estimates.

Miller Lite and Grolsch maker SABMiller (Xetra: BRW1.DE - news) also rose as strong growth in Africa and Latin America helped to accelerate net producer revenue growth in the fourth quarter. Sector peer Diageo , however, fell as organic sales declined in the third quarter, surprising the market which had pencilled in an increase.

UK housebuilder Persimmon (Other OTC: PSMMY - news) was unwanted after saying that despite an "encouraging start" to 2015, political uncertainty ahead of the elections meant it is increasingly difficult to secure planning consents for sites in the land market.

Supermarket group Morrisons dropped into the red after saying it will recruit 5,000 new staff in-store and start consultations to simplify the head office by cutting 720 roles. Meanwhile, Sainsbury's slipped on reports the retailer is planning to convert some 1.5m square foot of food space to non-food.

Market Movers techMARK 3,229.24 -0.67% FTSE 100 7,067.50 -0.41% FTSE 250 17,749.12 -0.70% FTSE 100 - Risers Unilever (ULVR) 3,045.00p +3.78% Fresnillo (FRES) 758.50p +2.78% Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,120.00p +2.71% CRH (CRH (NYSE: CRH - news) ) 1,900.00p +2.32% SABMiller (SAB) 3,664.50p +2.22% Old Mutual (Other OTC: ODMTY - news) (OML) 241.20p +2.16% GKN (GKN (LSE: GKN.L - news) ) 371.10p +1.92% Royal Dutch Shell (Xetra: R6C1.DE - news) 'A' (RDSA) 2,091.50p +0.97% BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) (BLT) 1,485.50p +0.92% National Grid (LSE: NG.L - news) (NG.) 905.40p +0.76% FTSE 100 - Fallers BAE Systems (BA.) 513.50p -3.57% Intu Properties (INTU) 350.90p -3.52% Pearson (PSON) 1,379.00p -3.36% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 276.50p -2.88% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 568.50p -2.57% Diageo (DGE) 1,918.50p -2.47% Meggitt (MGGT) 550.50p -2.39% Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,122.00p -2.35% Capita (CPI (Other OTC: CPICQ - news) ) 1,128.00p -2.08% Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,151.00p -1.79% FTSE 250 - Risers Debenhams (DEB) 83.80p +5.28% JD Sports Fashion (LSE: JD.L - news) (JD.) 558.00p +3.52% Vedanta Resources (Other OTC: VDNRF - news) (VED) 581.50p +3.29% AO World (AO.) 189.30p +3.10% Acacia Mining (Other OTC: ABGLF - news) (ACA) 291.40p +2.68% PayPoint (PAY) 899.50p +1.93% Hunting (Frankfurt: 0YT.F - news) (HTG) 608.50p +1.76% Centamin (DI (KSE: 003160.KS - news) ) (CEY) 61.95p +1.72% Drax Group (LSE: DRX.L - news) (DRX) 427.30p +1.64% Lonmin (LMI) 140.10p +1.60% FTSE 250 - Fallers Telecom Plus (TEP) 797.00p -18.51% Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 163.00p -11.56% Amlin (Stuttgart: 4A8A.SG - news) (AML) 485.70p -8.36% Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,025.00p -3.76% Booker Group (LSE: BOK.L - news) (BOK) 152.50p -3.11% Hays (HAS) 159.40p -3.04% Melrose Industries (Other OTC: MLSPF - news) (MRO) 273.20p -2.88% Ophir Energy (Other OTC: OPGYF - news) (OPHR) 161.20p -2.83% Home Retail Group (HOME) 168.30p -2.77% Allied Minds (Other OTC: ALLWF - news) (ALM) 682.00p -2.57%