UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Weds Feb 8
08/02/2012 at 07:30
LONDON Feb 8 Reuters - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening modestly higher on Wednesday, tracking similar performances on Wall Street and in Asia as investors continue to await news from Greece on its progress towards securing a bailout deal and averting a messy default.
Greek party leaders were set to meet again on Wednesday to try to strike a reform deal in return for the new 130 billion euro $172 billion rescue from the IMF and EU after a string of delays. Leaders of the three parties in the coalition of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos postponed what was supposed to have been a crunch meeting on Tuesday until the following day.
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 euro zone.
Financial bookmakers expect the FTSE 100 index to open up 3-5 points, having closed down 1.94 points, or 0.1 percent on Tuesday at 5,890.26 after staging a late recovery from lows.
U.S. blue chips ended 0.3 percent higher on Tuesday, and Asian shares nudged up to their highest in more than five months on Wednesday as investors kept hopes alive of a deal in Greece.
Commodity prices were also higher in Asian trade, with U.S. crude oil supported by an unplanned outage at a Canadian oil sands plant, while copper prices edged ahead on cautious optimism for the Greek debt talks.
However, a half-year profit fall from BHP Billiton could limit any gains by the heavyweight mining sector in London.
On the domestic data front, British shop prices rose at their slowest pace in almost two years in January as food and non-food inflation slowed, the British Retail Consortium said on Wednesday.
No other important British data is scheduled for release on Wednesday, and across the Atlantic, only the latest weekly U.S. mortgage and refinancing indexes will be released, both at 1200 GMT.
Only one UK blue chip firm will trade ex-dividend on Wednesday, with software firm Sage Group knocking 0.36 points of the FTSE 100 index.
* GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares rise, euro eases as Greek talks drag
* Wall St edges up in quiet day; Disney down late
* Nikkei tops 9,000 for first time in 3 months
* FOREX-Euro near 2-month high on hopes for Greece debt deal
* TREASURIES-U.S. bond prices edge up as Greece deal awaited
* LME copper steady; Greek debt talks eyed
* Brent slips to $116 on Greece risk, spread trade
* Gold holds near $1,745 as Greece buys more time
UK stocks to watch on Wednesday are:
BHP BILLITON
The world's biggest miner has reported a rare fall in earnings, with half-year profit down 6 percent to $9.94 billion, hurt by labour battles and weaker commodity prices.
RIO TINTO
The global miner announced on Wednesday a $3.4 billion expansion of iron ore mining in Australia, where it has mapped out a plan to lift capacity by more than 50 percent in anticipation of growing demand from Chinese steel mills.
BP
A federal judge rejected BP's effort to keep evidence about settlements out of the upcoming trial to decide who is responsible for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND
Stephen Hester has revealed that the dramatic restructuring of Royal Bank of Scotland has cost 38 billion pounds $60.32 billion in a rallying memo to staff days after the embattled chief executive waived a 1 million pound bonus, The Financial Times said.
Also, two bidders remain in the running to buy RBS's Asian equities, mergers and acquisitions and research businesses, the Financial Times also reported.
SHIRE
Shire said on Tuesday that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration had approved the prescription medication for its Vyvanse capsules as a maintenance treatment for adults with ADHD attention deficit hyper disorder.
Also, Shire shares were boosted on Tuesday by talk of a 35 pound a share bid from Bayer or Pfizer, the Daily Express reported.
MISYS
Misys and Swiss banking software firm Temenos said on Tuesday they had agreed to a number of key terms on a possible all-share merger that could create one of the world's largest standalone financial software companies.
INMARSAT
The mobile satellite service provider's shares were higher on Tuesday on vague rumours of a possible 3 billion pounds or 7 pounds-a-share bid from General Electric , the U.S. multinational conglomerate, according to the Daily Mail market report.
INTERNATIONAL POWER
The power generator reports full-year results.
RECKITT BENCKISER GROUP
The household products group unveils full-year results.
DAILY MAIL AND GENERAL TRUST
The newspaper publisher issues an AGM trading update.
THOMAS COOK GROUP
The tour operator holds its annual general meeting.
DUNELM GROUP
The retailer issues a trading update.
GRAINGER
The property group issues an AGM trading update.
HOMESERVE
The home emergency group issues a trading update.
LIONTRUST ASSET MANAGEMENT
The fund manager issues a trading update.
SUPERGROUP
The fashion brand issues a third-quarter trading update.
STAGECOACH THEATRE ARTS
The theatre schools firm reports first-half results.
TODAY'S UK PAPERS
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Reporting by Jon Hopkins. Editing by Mark Potter
jon.hopkins@thomsonreuters.com02075428954Reuters Messaging: jon.hopkins.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
Keywords: MARKETS BRITAIN FACTORS