LONDON (Alliance News) - London stocks are mixed Monday mid-morning, with the market awaiting the Bank of England's interest rate decision and the outcome of Monday's eurogroup meeting addressing Greek debt.
The FTSE 100 is up 0.3% at 7,069.24, while the FTSE 250 is down 0.1% at 17,920.95. The AIM All-Share is up 0.5% at 756.73.
In Europe, the CAC 40 in Pars is down 1.4% and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt is down 0.5%.
Royal Mail is the biggest blue-chip gainer, up 3.2%, after peer Whistl suspended its door-to-door letterbox service, Sky News reported on Monday, putting jobs at risk. The report said that Whistl is trying to control its losses after LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, withdrew from talks about a possible investment in the company at the end of April.
Tesco is the second best performer in the FTSE 100, up 2.5%. The supermarket chain is preparing to sell its mobile division, which is a joint venture with Telefonica UK's O2 network, as part of its efforts to slim its business and reduce its debts, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
TalkTalk Telecom Group and 02 are said to be among the bidders. TalkTalk bought Tesco's Blinkbox movies business and broadband and fixed line voice customer base in January.
Meanwhile, New York-listed consumer research company Nielsen Holdings is poised to join the GBP2 billion auction for Tesco's Dunnhumby, the Sunday Times reported. Tesco Chief Executive Dave Lewis hired Goldman Sachs to sell the business, which operates Tesco's clubcard loyalty scheme.
Sage Group also is amongst blue-chip risers, up 1.8% at 553.5 pence. Goldman Sachs has raised the enterprise software company's price target to 565p from 540p, retaining its Neutral recommendation.
Aberdeen Asset Management is a FTSE 100 faller, down 0.5% at 447.00p, after Societe Generale downgraded the asset manager to Hold from Buy, cutting its price target to 485p from 490p.
In the FTSE 250, Bodycote is up 3.0% at 732.00p, after Citigroup upgraded the specialty chemicals company to Buy from Neutral, lifting its price target to 825p from 750p.
Also in the FTSE 250, Lonmin is up 2.1% after it said its pretax loss for the first half of the year narrowed despite revenue being hurt by lower commodity prices, as the company focuses on reducing expenditure and costs in preparation for lower prices for a minimum of two years.
The miner reported a pretax loss of USD118 million in the six months ended March 31, narrower than the USD278 million loss in the first half of the 2014 financial year, as a decline in revenue was offset by fewer impairments.
Diploma is the worst performer in the mid-cap index, down 3.9%. Numis downgraded the specialist products and services company to Hold from Add, following a strong share performance that had driven its price above of the broker's target of 843 pence on Friday. Monday morning, Diploma's share price is quoted at 814.00p.
Diploma posted on Monday a rise in pretax profit for its the first half, buoyed by acquisitions it made during the past year, and it increased its interim dividend, saying this expressed its confidence in its growth prospects.
The Bank of England's interest rate decision is due at 1200 BST.
"With no change in policy and no post-meeting statement expected notwithstanding the unexpectedly decisive [UK] election outturn, the announcement is likely to bring no surprises, leaving the focus on Wednesday?s Inflation Report alongside labour market statistics for the three months to March," says Rhys Herbert, senior economist at Lloyds Bank.
Ahead of the BoE decision, the pound is lower at USD1.5409.
Investors also are watching the eurogroup meeting of Eurozone finance ministers taking place Monday in Brussels, where the main theme will be Greece's debt issues and economic reform proposals.
"The talks between the Greek government and its international partners are entering a crucial phase, overshadowed by a precarious fiscal situation, heavy debt redemptions, and concerns about the stability of the banking system," says UBS in a note for clients.
"The time pressure is enormous: the stalled review of the current Troika programme has to be closed by end-June, and a follow-on programme would have to be in place soon after for Greece to manage very high debt service in July/August. Failure to reach a deal over the coming weeks would likely mean default and might put Greece on a slippery slope that could lead to Grexit," adds UBS.
The Mediterranean country has to meet a payment of around EUR745 million to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday.
On Sunday, China's central bank cut interest rates for the third time in six months to reverse an economic slowdown. Chinese producer prices were reported to have fallen in April, while consumer price inflation remained weak.
US futures point to a lower opening, with the DJIA and the S&P 500 pointed down 0.1%, and the Nasdaq 100 pointed flat.
Still in the economic calendar Monday, in the US, the Labor Market Conditions Index is due at 1500 BST.
By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com
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