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FTSE 100 bounces back on hopes Greece will climb down

Published: 17:28 01 Jul 2015 BST

Greece

Footsie smashed its way back above 6,600 today as Greece hedged it bets in its stand-off with creditors.

The FTSE 100 Index, which has fallen for four days in a row, rose 88 points to 6,609, while the FTSE 250 put on 196 points at 17,717.

The market rallied after it appeared that Greek premier Alexis Tsipras was preparing to accept creditors' demands tabled at the weekend, but the Eurogroup of Eurozone finance ministers may still find it tough to accept Tsipras's amended proposals, which reportedly included a slower ramp-up of the retirement age.

Commentators also questioned what would happen to Athens' plans for a referendum on the creditors' proposals if Tsipras appeared to accept them.

Serco (LON:SRP) led the rise, bouncing 7.7p to 125.7p as the troubled outsourcing group reported slightly better-than-expected first half trading.

After several profit warnings and a rescue rights issue, investors appeared to welcome some stability, with Serco saying its full year expectations remained unchanged.

Sirius Minerals (LON:SXX) soared 43% to 21.5p as the UK potash miner said the North York Moors National Park Authority had approved its mine and mineral transport system planning application.

Graphene specialist Haydale (LON:HAYD) has extended its relationship with US tech marketing hot house InVentures, sending the share 4.8% higher to 121p.

Building on a 2014 consulting agreement, InVentures will now provide US arm Haydale Tech with financial, strategic and management planning advice to build it into a centre of excellence for graphene and other nanomaterials.

On the downside, plant hire group Speedy Hire (LON:SDY) tumbled 22p to 49p as it warned on profits and said its chief executive had quit.

News that a third party who subscribed for £145,000 of shares in Independent Oil & Gas (LON:IOG) last month had not yet paid for them hit the North Sea oil firm's stock by 4.125p to 16.625p.

Shares in LightwaveRF (LON:LWRF) dimmed 6p to 31p on news that the remote control lighting group expected short-term revenue to miss market expectations.

 

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