FTSE dips as City awaits Greek talks

London’s leading shares index ended slightly lower yesterday as traders awaited the outcome of ongoing talks on Greek debt.

The FTSE 100 closed 12.6 points lower at 5,728.55, but traders were not too disappointed as the index hit a five-month high this week.

Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG Index, said: “We have enjoyed an entire week without eurozone politicians putting their foot in it, and markets have taken this as a welcome relief.”

Analysts said the outcome of the Greek government’s talks with creditors could determine the path the eurozone debt crisis takes in the coming months.

The banking sector held on to gains in London as investors cheered Thursday’s results from Wall Street giants Bank of America and Morgan Stanley. Royal Bank of Scotland added 0.4p at 27.4p and Barclays was ahead 1.3p at 222.7p.

Heavily-weighted Vodafone gained 1.5 per cent after the mobile phone heavyweight won a £3 billion battle with the Indian authorities. Shares gained 2.6p to 177.1p.

There was also a rise for Guinness and Smirnoff drinks firm Diageo after Investec upgraded the stock. Shares were 12p higher at 1,393p.

The focus of the retail sector was on the Office for National Statistics after it confirmed the view of many firms that Christmas was not quite the wash-out they expected at the start of December. Month-on-month sales volumes were up by 0.6 per cent in December but the improvement came at the expense of margins as firms cut prices.

Marks & Spencer, which has already disclosed its Christmas sales performance, was 7.7p higher at 334.7p but Argos owner Home Retail Group fell 1.5p to 100.5p in the FTSE 250 Index.

NEW YORK: The Dow industrials and the S&P 500 posted their best week in four even with a mixed finish last night after strong earnings from IBM and Intel contrasted with Google’s disappointing quarterly report.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 96.50 points, or 0.76 per cent, to end at 12,720.48 while the S&P 500 Index edged up 0.88 of a point, or 0.07 per cent, to finish on 1,315.38. But the Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 1.63 points, or 0.06 per cent, to close at 2,786.70.