London’s blue chip stocks continued to move further into the red at lunch.
The FTSE 100 was 30 points, or 0.5%, lower at lunch amid concerns that Greece may be heading towards a debt default.
Another round of failed talks between Greece and the IMF has added to fears that the country will fail to pay the €1.6bn it owes to the IMF by the end of the month.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said today that the talks between Greece and its creditors will restart, but that it was up to Greece to make the next move.
The news dampened markets across Europe with the Cac 40 index in Paris shedding 25 points, 0.5%, and the Frankfurt-based Dax easing 44 points or 0.3%.
Back in the UK, supermarkets were lower after two days of good sessions after Sainsbury’s trading update earlier in the week.
Yesterday, credit agency Moody revealed a gloomy prediction of two more years of woe for the big four as discounters Aldi and Lidl become more powerful.
Tesco (LON;TSCO) fell 1.7p to 213p, Sainsbury’s (LON:SBRY) dipped 1.5% to 260p, while Morrisons (LON:MRW) was 1.4% lower at 179p.
On the other side of the index, Royal Mail (LON:RMG) was the best of the performers on the closure of home deliveries by rival Whistl. Shares rose 12p to 560p.
Away from the index, fashion clothing group Ted Baker (LON:TED) saw sales surge ahead in its latest quarter as customers in the US snapped up its new ranges. Shares climbed 1.6% to 2,860p.
Similarly, women's outfitters Bonmarché (LON:BON) said it was confident of its growth strategy after reporting a 55% increase in pre-tax profits in the year just gone. Shares jumped 7% to 289p.
It wasn’t all good news however as Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment (LON:BPTY) lost over 10% to 93p as it emerged two shareholders plan to issue 50mln shares in the FTSE250 gaming group.
The timing seems strange given that Bwin is currently the subject of a bidding war between smaller rival 888 Holdings and both GVC Holdings and Canada’s Amaya.
In small caps, Forte Energy (LON:FTE) shares boomed 25% higher to 0.1p as it updated on the situation with its Kuriskova uranium deposit in Slovakia.
On the other side, Trap Oil (LON:TRAP) was one of the biggest losers after the company said it did not know why shares rose yesterday.
Shares were on the rise in early deals, but, soon after the company released a statement reiterating it only had enough funding to last until July, shares eased 24% to 0.7p.
Meanwhile, AIM deal maker David Lenigas has now added stockbrokerage and financial services to his portfolio of businesses.
Settlement service provider Global Investment Strategy could be joining the London Stock Exchange after a reverse takeover offer from AIM-listed Octagonal (LON:OCT).
The combined company, which will become a financial services company, is to have a £11.2mln market capitalisation on admission to AIM, much higher than Octagonal’s current £3.3mln.
Octagonal, with which serial entrepreneur and Horse Hill driller David Lenigas has a major interest, will raise £1.7mln from a share placing.
Shares in Octagonal jumped 48% to 0.275p on the news.