London open: Stocks slip on concerns over Greece

8th Aug 2012 09:02

- S and P cuts Greek outlook to 'negative'- Markets await BoE inflation report- StanChart rebounds after yesterday's sell-offUK stocks slipped in the opening hour on Wednesday, with the Footsie pulling back after a four-month high, after Greece's long-term sovereign rating outlook was cut by Standard and Poor's.Credit ratings agency S&P lowered its outlook on Greece last night from 'stable' to 'negative' to reflect the possibility of a downgrade if the country fails to secure the next tranche of aid. The sovereign rating still remains at 'CCC'.In a statement, S&P said: "Following delays in implementing budgetary consolidation measures and a worsening Greek economy, we believe Greece is likely to require additional financing for 2012 under the EU/International Monetary Fund."We consider the Greek government will find it difficult to make further cuts to meet the conditions to secure the next disbursement of the next tranche of funding from the EU/IMF Program."In domestic news, the Bank of England inflation report is due out at 10:30. Barclays Capital said this morning: "We expect the MPC to say that policy is 'broadly appropriate', but for the projections to be soft, showing a small undershoot of the inflation target in the medium term and indicating a bias to loosen."[...] The GDP and inflation projections are likely to be lower in the near term, reflecting the substantial downside news in Q2 on both of these indicators," they said.StanChart rebounds...slightly; Astra & BTG fall after CytoFab disappointmentFollowing a 16% slump yesterday, emerging markets-focused bank Standard Chartered was leading the risers today, gaining 6%. It was revealed yesterday that a US banking regulator accused it of collusion with the government of Iran to hide transactions from authorities.Pharma giant AstraZeneca was under the weather after its study of BTG's CytoFab drug showed that there were no significant improvements versus a placebo. Astra has now halted further development and handed the asset back to BTG. However, BTG has also decided not to conduct further developments and said it will take a £28m one-off charge this year.Rio Tinto, the mining and resources giant, jumped after managing to beat market expectations on earnings in the first half. Engineering group GKN was a heavy faller after going ex-dividend - from today, investors will not have the right to the group's latest dividend. Also going ex-div today were FTSE 350 peers Reckitt Benckiser, Reed Elsevier, SABMiller, BT Group, Rexam, Spirent Communications, Greene King and RPC.Currency headwinds were a problem for South African insurance group Old Mutual in the first half of 2012, as were falling interest rates, which hit investment returns, causing shares to fall early on.Defence technology group Cobham dropped despite seeing robust growth in its core businesses in the first half, as it said that it is approaching 2013 'with caution', particularly as its order intake slipped by over a fifth.FTSE 100 - RisersStandard Chartered (STAN) 1,303.00p +6.06%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,162.50p +1.02%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 229.00p +0.66%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,346.00p +0.52%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,115.00p +0.49%United Utilities Group (UU.) 687.00p +0.37%Vodafone Group (VOD) 190.95p +0.37%Polymetal International (POLY) 934.00p +0.21%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,501.00p +0.16%Centrica (CNA) 327.20p +0.12%FTSE 100 - FallersSmiths Group (SMIN) 1,083.00p -2.70%Serco Group (SRP) 576.50p -2.62%AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,012.50p -2.29%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,686.00p -2.26%BT Group (BT.A) 219.70p -2.09%Vedanta Resources (VED) 989.50p -1.74%Pennon Group (PNN) 741.50p -1.59%GKN (GKN) 216.30p -1.41%SABMiller (SAB) 2,829.00p -1.38%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,180.00p -1.27%FTSE 250 - RisersJD Sports Fashion (JD.) 689.27p +2.72%Ruspetro (RPO) 156.80p +1.88%BH Global Ltd. USD Shares (BHGU) 11.5 +1.77%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 500.00p +1.44%Melrose (MRO) 232.00p +1.09%Carpetright (CPR) 614.50p +1.07%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 3,127.00p +1.03%BH Macro Ltd. USD Shares (BHMU) 18.6 +0.98%Rank Group (RNK) 125.00p +0.89%Savills (SVS) 377.80p +0.85%FTSE 250 - FallersBTG (BTG) 313.30p -7.31%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 34.85p -4.99%Cobham (COB) 230.00p -3.56%Greene King (GNK) 577.50p -3.51%Michael Page International (MPI) 378.90p -2.80%RPC Group (RPC) 406.50p -2.59%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 173.00p -2.54%Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 290.10p -2.36%Home Retail Group (HOME) 80.30p -2.31%Law Debenture Corp. (LWDB) 396.10p -2.15%BC