Miners buoy FTSE as Greece remains on knife edge
The FTSE 100 opened on the front foot this morning as investors continued to cling onto hopes that Greece could be steered away from financial meltdown.
Greek party leaders were set to meet again today to hammer out a reform deal in return for the new €130bn rescue from the IMF and EU.
Leaders of the three parties in the coalition of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos postponed a crunch meeting yesterday in yet another setback in a debacle which has cast a shadow over markets for months.
While most market players believe Greece is close to a deal, failure to secure the rescue package could push Greece into a chaotic default and threaten the stability of the entire Eurozone.
On London’s blue chip index Xstrata was the top riser, climbing 2.5 per cent.
The increase came as some investors in the company were calling for the board to cut a better deal with commodities giant Glencore which is seeking approval for a $90bn (£56bn) merger of the companies.
Also in mining Rio Tinto was up 1.9 per cent as results from peer BHP Billiton, which showed a strong performance despite a slip in profits, lifted the sector.
Kazakhmys and Fresnillo were also up more than two per cent.
Banks showed resilience in early trading with Barclays up 2.1 per cent and Lloyds 1.8 per cent. RBS chief executive Stephen Hester admitted today that he considered resigning over the furore surrounding his bonus award, which he rejected.
Another top climber was consumer giant Reckitt Benckiser which nudged up by 2.1 per cent after reporting a rise in profits.
On the down side International Power slipped 3.5 per cent despite reporting a lift in earnings for the full year.
Software group Sage was off by 1.5 per cent, after it went ex-dividend and so lost its payout attraction.
Cairn Energy edged down by just over two per cent.
The retail sector was also knocked by weak data showing that consumers are reining in their spending.
Figures form the British Retail Consortium showed that shop prices rose at their slowest pace in almost two years in January as food and non-food inflation slowed.
Next edged down 1.4 per cent and Marks & Spencer 0.9 per cent.
Meanwhile in Asia the Nikkei closed up 1.1 per cent and the Hang Seng 1.5 per cent.