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FTSE gains on Greek vote; Cable & Wireless soars

UK index tops 5,900 as Greek lawmakers approve a package of austerity measures to secure a €130 billion (£110 billion) bailout.

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by Max Julius on Feb 13, 2012 at 08:51

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FTSE gains on Greek vote; Cable & Wireless soars

Britain’s FTSE 100 advanced on Monday after Greek lawmakers approved a package of austerity measures demanded by Greece’s international lenders in return for a €130 billion (£110 billion) bailout.

The UK index of blue-chip shares rose 0.9%, or 53 points, to 5,905 and the All Share index moved 0.88%, or 27 points, north to 3,051. See the FTSE’s performance and the index’s top winners and losers.

Violence breaks out in Athens

Coalition parties expelled more than 40 deputies for failing to back the measures, which included 15,000 public-sector job cuts, the liberalisation of labour laws, and lowering the minimum wage by 20% to 600 euros a month.

Meanwhile, violent street protests erupted outside the parliament in Athens, where dozens of arson attacks against shops and banks also took place.

‘There is no cause for major relief: in effect parliament only decided not to denounce further aid payments at this stage,’ warned Lutz Karpowitz, strategist at Commerzbank.

He added that in light of the ‘explosive’ political situation, opponents of the reforms could come to power in elections in April, in which case ‘everything would start all over again’, as each tranche of the bailout package has to be released individually.

Nonetheless, stock markets elsewhere in Europe also welcomed the move: Germany’s DAX index added 0.59% to 6,732, France's CAC 40 index gained 0.95% to 3,405, and the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was 0.78% higher at 1,072.

The euro strengthened 0.53% versus the dollar to $1.328, as borrowing costs dropped for Italy and France – the eurozone countries seen as being most at risk of succumbing next to the debt crisis. The yields, or implied interest rates, on perceived ‘safe haven’ US, UK and German debt rose.

Resources stocks climb

Miners topped the leader board on the FTSE 100, as commodities prices gained. Anglo American (AAL.L) took on 90p to £28.37, Vedanta Resources (VED.L) improved 29p to £12.90 and Kazakhmys (KAZ.L) hardened 27p to £11.51.

Financials also performed well, as fears over the eurozone’s debt woes ebbed. Lloyds (LLOY.L) climbed 0.6p to 35.1p and Barclays (BARC.L) gained 3.7p to 238p.

BSkyB (BSY.L) gained 5p to 698p as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, which holds a 39% stake in the broadcaster, was rocked by another scandal as five journalists from the Sun newspaper were arrested in a corruption investigation.

On the FTSE 250, Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWP.L) rocketed up 5.5p, or 28%, to 25.2p after mobile phone operator Vodafone (VOD.L) – a member of Citywire Top Stocks® – said it was considering a £700 million bid for the telecoms group. Vodafone edged up 1p to 174p.

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7 comments so far. Why not have your say?

Thank goodness, that's the Greek crisis solved. I got a bit worried there for a moment.

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The Greek government won't be able to implement the cuts owing to social unrest and will probably fall shortly---this is just another red herring-----nothing has changed so get ready for the disorderly default that may be slightly delayed but not avoided

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So they won't sign the bits of paper that the Troika want? Doesn't that mean they don't get the money? Or will they FIB? And will Angela believe them? Oh dear, and I thought it was all solved....

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Goldman Sachs + Rating Agencies = missery

The western world in 08 and 09 and Greece now. Could not make it up could you?

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Any decision by the Greek Parliament means absolutely nothing. Any austerity measures will not be implemented, just as they haven't been in the past. Any apparent decision to bow to the wishes of the 'troika' are nothing more than a cynical move to extract more cash from the long suffering taxpayers of the northern nations of the eurozone, before they succumb to the inevitability of a disorderly default. Better it happened three years ago! The weakness of the political leadership of the eurozone is evidenced by the willingness of Merkozy to continue to pay purely to delay the inevitable rather than pretend to believe the Greeks. Greece is in reality a third world nation with a third world economy but first world greed! It should revert back to relying on the olive and tourist trade and sink back to being the economic backwater it is best suited for.

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I reckon almost everyone in Greece are wearing reality excluders . Have they no idea how tax avoidance and wildly generous public sector pensions have caught up with them. Surely they cannot be that stupid, or can they.

Anyway they had better stop, all this rioting because they will soon lose one of their best money spinners . HOLIDAYS in the sun.

Who would want to go there when they are spitting their dummies out all the time .

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Drake

Feb 13, 2012 at 17:12

The people not paying taxes are the surgeons, lawyers, accountants, dentists and businessmen. You don't see many of them throwing molotov cocktails. Guess which side of the tracks the politicians come from. The ordinary Greek has been completely shafted by corrupt politicians for the last 20 years or more. If I were Stavros I would say, let's default and start again.

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