20th Feb 2015 07:00
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK stocks are set to open flat Friday as investors continue to mull over Germany's rejection of Greece's loan extension terms on Thursday and ahead of the crucial Eurogroup meeting Friday to discuss the proposal.
On Thursday, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis wrote to Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem to formally request a six-month extension to the agreement governing its bailout. It is unclear, however, to what extent Athens is prepared to stick to the associated austerity measures imposed by its international creditors.
"The letter from Athens is not a substantial proposal for a solution," Martin Jaeger, a German Finance Ministry spokesman told dpa, since it "does not correspond" to criteria agreed by eurozone finance ministers earlier this week.
The announcement comes ahead of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers Friday to consider the Greek request.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open flat at 6,888.6. The index closed down 0.1% at 6,888.90 Thursday also weighed on by oil shares as Brent oil fell below USD58 a barrel. Ahead of the open Friday, Brent has recovered somewhat to trade at USD60.51 a barrel.
Wall Street ended mixed Thursday. The DJIA closed down 0.2%, the S&P 500 ended down 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite finished up 0.4%.
In Asia on Friday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 closed up 0.4% at 18,332.3 its highest close since May 2000. Hong Kong and Shanghai markets are closed for Chinese New Year.
In the corporate calendar, full-year results are expected from FTSE 100 savings and investment company Standard Life and from FTSE 250-listed Bank of Georgia and packaging components company Essentra.
In the economic calendar, there are Markit Services, Manufacturing and Composite Purchasing Managers Index readings from France at 0800 GMT, Germany at 0830 GMT and the eurozone at 0900 GMT. UK public sector new borrowing for January is at 0930 GMT as is UK retail sales. US Markit Manufacturing PMI is expected at 1445 GMT.
By Neil Thakrar; [email protected]; @NeilThakrar1
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