2nd Jul 2015 05:59
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK stocks are set to open lower Thursday with the Greek saga continuing to weigh on investor sentiment ahead of the US nonfarm payrolls report later in the afternoon.
The Greek crisis worsened late Wednesday after its creditors and eurozone finance ministers stalled further negotiations with the country until after the outcome of the Sunday referendum and rejected any bailout extension.
In a letter to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselboem said there are no ground for further talks at this point given the political situation, rejection of the previous proposals, the Sunday referendum, and the Greek government recommendation to vote 'No'.
"There will be no talks in the coming days, either at Eurogroup level or between the Greek authorities and the institutions on proposals or financial arrangements. We will simply await now the outcome of the referendum on Sunday and take into account the outcome of that referendum," Dijsselboem said.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open lower at 6,582.2. The blue-chip index closed up 1.2% at 6,601.59 Wednesday spurred by hopes of a new deal between Greece and its creditors following a letter by Tsipras to Greece's creditors saying Athens is prepared to accept the majority of its creditors' bailout demands.
In New York Wednesday, the DJIA ended up 0.8%, the S&P 500 closed up 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite ended up 0.5%.
In Asia Thursday, the Nikkei in Tokyo is up 1.0%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong trades up 0.4% but the Shanghai Composite is down 2.9%.
In the UK corporate calendar, there are trading statements from housebuilder Persimmon and recruitment and outsourcing company Harvey Nash Group. There is also half-year results from performance materials company Low & Bonar.
In the economic calendar, there are UK Halifax house prices at 0800 BST, ahead of the UK construction purchasing managers' index at 0930 BST and eurozone producer price index at 1000 BST. At 1230 BST are the release of the European Central Bank's policy meeting accounts. The focus will be on the US for the rest of the afternoon, with the release of nonfarm payrolls, unemployment and earnings data all at 1330 BST and factory orders at 1500 BST.
By Neil Thakrar; [email protected]; @NeilThakrar1
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