FTSE edges up but Eurozone gloom continues
The FTSE 100 staged a tentative recovery in early trading although an inconclusive meeting of Eurozone leaders offered little prospect of a plan to save Greece.
Overnight the EU said it wanted Greece to stay in the fold but contingency plans are already underway for an exit from the euro for the debt laden country.
Meanwhile a second reading of UK GDP figures showed that the economy contracted by 0.3 per cent in the first three months of the year – worse than the 0.2 per cent previously estimated.
On London’s blue chip index gold miner Randgold Resources was the biggest climber, up 4.8 per cent.
Mining heavyweights BHP Billiton and Anglo American also nudged up.
Luxury retailer Burberry, which yesterday reporting a profit rise of a quarter, lifted by 1.3 per cent and was the second biggest riser on the FTSE 100.
Outsourcer Capita was up 1.1 per cent while rival Serco edged up by 0.3 per cent.
Engineer Rolls Royce, which has had a string of contract wins over the past few months, put on just over one per cent.
However, on the down side commodities giant Glencore was off by three per cent making it the biggest faller.
Miner Xstrata, which is the subject of a bid from Glencore, edged down by 2.5 per cent.
Steelmaker Evraz suffered a 1.9 per cent drop.
Packaging giant Rexam lost 1.4 per cent and engineer GKN 1.2 per cent.
On the FTSE All share retailer Mothercare soared by 12 per cent despite reporting a hefty loss. Investors were apparently impressed by the company’s tough turnaround plan.
Online retailer Asos put on four per cent after reporting a profit surge fuelled by overseas sales.
In Asia the Nikkei closed flat while the Hang Seng was down 0.6 per cent.
US economic data due out later includes April durable goods and the latest weekly jobless claims.