Markets: FTSE 100 falls into the red over Greece again on Friday
17:10 - Greece was the word for the FTSE 100 (UKX) this week and throughout Friday as uncertainty and hope were followed by confusion and exasperation.
London's blue chip index closed 43.08 points lower at 5852.39, with Tate and Lyle (TATE) reversing its fortunes from the previous session as it became the day's final winner, up almost 2%. Meanwhile, Man Group (EMG) fell more than 5%.
For small caps, the AIM champion was D1 Oils (DOO), while Zenergy Power (ZEN) was rock bottom.
On the trading front, Interactive Investor users were buying Tesco (TSCO) and selling Barclays (BARC), while Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY), Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) and Bahamas Petroleum (BPC) were bought and sold in equal measure.
Commenting on the US confidence figures which proved an additional dent to investor sentiment, Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG Index, said: "Although the decline is not disastrous, it was the final element needed to cause markets to switch from rampant optimism to worried realism."
"Still," he added, "markets never go in a straight line in either direction, and today's drop might simply be the inevitable pull-back following last week's surge in stockmarkets.
Heading into the weekend, Beauchamp noted another Greek deadline to contend with, "this time on Sunday, which will be sufficient to keep investors on edge for the time being."
At a glance...
Commodities
Gold: $1,719.03 
WTI crude oil: $98.41
Currencies
GBP/USD: 1.5752.
GBP/EUR: 1.1948 
EUR/USD: 1.3185
All changes from 09:00 GMT.
16:46 - US stocks fell sharply as trading wore on across the Pond.
A sixth week of gains for the S&P 500 was looking unlikely amid investor uncertainty over the Greek bail-out deal.
But the main cause for concern was domestic data as the first reading from the February's Michigan consumer confidence index failed to live up to expectations, dropping to 72.5 from 75.
The Dow Jones plunged 123 points to 12767, with all but one of its 30 components losing ground.
The S&P 500 gave up 10 points to 1341 with natural resource companies hardest hit, while the Nasdaq headed 22 points lower to 2904.
16:36 - Magnolia Petroleum (MAGP) has acquired 100% interest, including the right to drill, in 800 acres in the oil producing Mississippi Lime formation, Oklahoma.
Additionally, it has obtained minority interests in leases over a further 284 net acres with an average working interest of 3.4%. The total aggregate costs for acquiring the 1,084 acres amounted to $230,000.
"The new acreage lies on the Mississippi formation in Oklahoma, recognised as having the potential to be the next big play in onshore US and where many of the leading players operating in the Bakken have recently been busy acquiring large tracts of land," said chief operating officer Rita Whittington.
"In addition, the cost of drilling in the Mississippi is considerably less than that of the Bakken, and so offers higher margins and a much-reduced payback time," she added.
Further acreage is expected to be acquired "in due course".
16:12 - Silence Therapeutics (SLN) has promoted current chief business officer Tony Sedgwick PhD, FRCPath to the role of chief executive with immediate effect.
Sedgwick has "extensive experience" from European life science companies including more than 15 years at Roche. He was also the chief executive of Novacta, Daniolabs and Cambridge Biotechnology, as well as chairman of the Norwegian biotech company Plastid.
"Over the next few years, I intend to increase the commercial focus of the company, harness the RNAi therapeutics opportunity and, as a result, create substantial shareholder value," promised Sedgewick, highlighting that the company's pipeline was making good progress.
15:48 - Shares in Zenergy Power (ZEN) tumbled over 20% as it confirmed that it made a "significant" loss of £20.6 million for 2011.
The loss included £10.5 million from the group's discontinued German superconducting operation and an impairment charge of £7.9 million, less related tax credit of £0.6 million. The company held £5.3 million worth of cash and net liquid resources as at 31 December 2011.
Finally, the company confirmed that its revised strategy focusing on its non-superconducting mFCL product was now in place.
"Whilst the board is excited about the level of interest it has seen in the new non-superconducting mFCLs, it remains mindful of the risks facing the group and so will continue to keep the commercial progress and remaining resources of the group under close review during the year," it said.
15:24 - "Do more" is basically what Greece was told by eurozone ministers in Brussels on Thursday.
This was despite Greece presenting a new austerity plan, which included 15,000 public-sector job cuts, liberalisation of labour laws, lowering the minimum wage by 20% from €751 (£628) per month and negotiating a debt write-off with banks.
For the full story, read: Eurozone ministers set Greek bail-out deadline.
15:00 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) continued its downward trend, slipping 44 points to 5851.
Tate and Lyle (TATE) pushed aside Barclays (BARC) as the top performer, climbing up almost 2%. Man Group (EMG) slipped almost 5%.
At a glance...
Commodities
Gold: $1,714.63
WTI crude oil: $97.83
Currencies
GBP/USD: 1.5757
GBP/EUR: 1.1959
EUR/USD: 1.3181
All changes from 09:00 GMT.
14:46 - Markets across the Pond opened lower on Friday as optimism regarding a potential Greek deal waned.
The Dow Jones plunged 106 points to 12786. The Nasdaq slipped 23 points to 2905, while the S&P 500 declined by 11 points to 1341.
14:34 - HICL Infrastructure Company (HICL) posted a net asset value per share of 114p on an investment basis as at 31 December, up from 111.5p as at 30 September 2011 post-interim dividend.
Since 30 September, the group has made 27 new investments and an incremental £19 million acquisition.
"As a result of the portfolio acquisition and the healthy pipeline of new opportunities, the directors have announced their intention to raise further equity capital [of £135 million] by way of C shares," highlighted chairman Graham Picken.
"The proceeds will be used to repay the group's revolving debt facility and fund any new investments which may be made or identified prior to the C share issue," he added.
14:09 - Real estate investment trust Shaftesbury (SHB) confirmed that trading over the Christmas and New Year period had been "buoyant", with occupancy at "historically high levels".
And the company was optimistic about the prospects for 2012, highlighting that the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, World Pride and the Olympics would promote London and the West End to a global audience.
"Investors will continue to value the defensive qualities of Shaftesbury as well as its strong positioning for growth with the magnitude of the opportunity for revitalising the many tired corners of the West End," commented Sue Munden, analyst at Seymour Pierce. Shaftesbury was her top pick in the sector.
13:44 - Skywest Airlines (SKYW) informed investors that net profit attributable to members plunged 37% year-on-year in the half year to 31 December, despite revenues climbing up 16%.
The company did not declare an interim dividend.
Shares in the company moved almost 9% lower on the news.
13:19 - Shares in San Leon Energy (SLE) gained over 10% of their value as the company announced it had successfully completed its second shale gas exploration well in Poland's Baltic Basin.
The Rogity-1 well, operated by Talisman Energy (TLM), had been drilled to a depth of 2,788 metres.
Read: San Leon soars on well completion, for more.
12:54 - De Beers, the diamond-mining subsidiary of mining giant Anglo American (AAL), saw a sharp rise in underlying earnings last year, which reached $968 million (£613 million), almost doubling the 2010 figure of $598 million.
The increase was announced by Anglo American, which took a controlling interest in the firm last November.
For full-year 2011 however, Anglo will only receive 45% of the earnings - the level of its stake before the takeover. This amounts to $443 million.
12:27 - Department store John Lewis posted sales up 10.2% for the week ending 4 February, with electrical sales increasing by 10.8%.
"It was a reasonable week, the first one in February, considering the snowy weather over the weekend," stated Freddie George, analyst at Seymour Pierce.
"The other takeaway from these figures is that electrical sales appear to have picked up momentum in 2012 and this should help to support the Dixons Retail (DXNS) share price," he added.
12:00 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) struggled to find form on Friday as it digested outstanding concerns over Greece and the profit warning from Barclays (BARC).
London's blue-chip index sank 21 points lower to 5873 at midday, with ITV (ITV) leading the winners, while ICAP (IAP) moved down.
On AIM, Motive Television (MTV) was 23% higher, while Sky High (SKHG) was 25% in the red.
"The Barclays share price is up by 30% just for this year and, despite the weaker-than-expected numbers today, investors seem to be of the view that the recovery is not over yet," commented Rupert Osborne, futures dealer at IG Index.
He believes the morning's caution may well continue for the rest of the session as yet another deadline for Greece looms over the weekend.
Looking ahead to the US open, Osborne said that at the moment the Dow Jones is expected to start around 70 points lower at 12,820.
At a glance...
Commodities
Gold: $1,717.73
WTI crude oil: $98.66
Currencies
GBP/USD: 1.5819
GBP/EUR: 1.1951
EUR/USD: 1.3234
All changes from 09:00 GMT.
11:45 - Barclays (BARC) has warned that it may not be able to deliver its target of a 13% return on equity by 2013.
"Since setting the target the worse-than-predicted macroeconomic conditions, in addition to new regulatory constraints mean that we may not be able to deliver 13% returns by 2013," said chief executive Bob Diamond.
Read: Barclays warns on target as profit falls, for more.
11:18 - Shares in Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) dropped 8% as it warned that its Panama business would not achieve its previously-stated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) range for the full year of between $270 million and $295 million (£170 million and 186 million).
Additionally, EBITDA in the Caribbean (excluding Bahamas) region was also expected to be in "the lower half of [the] previously-stated outlook range". However, Macau and Bahamas were both expected to exceed previous guidance for the full year, while Monaco & Islands continued to trade "in line with guidance".
The company also highlighted that it had "no significant debt maturities" until October 2016. Net debt as at 31 December stood at $1,407 million. The company has raised $1 billion of financing in the last four months.
10:56 - Producer output prices rose by 0.5% month-on-month in January due to higher oil prices after a dip of 0.2% in December.
Nevertheless, the year-on-year increase retreated to a to a 26-month low of 7.0%.
Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, noted that producer prices tend to rise in January and the year-on-year increases in headline and core output prices continue to come down, as does the rise in input prices.
"It may be that signs of stabilising manufacturing output around the year have led to manufacturers feeling a little more confident in their pricing power," he said, but stressed that pricing power would remain limited in "a likely ongoing challenging environment" over the coming months.
10:31 - BP (BP.) has won a court order to prevent the inclusion of several potentially damaging e-mails, relating to previous accidents, in the forthcoming trial to determine responsibility for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
A report from Reuters said the latest decision is the oil company's second victory in as many days to bar evidence from the New Orleans court.
Read: Evidence blocked at BP Deepwater trial, for the full story.
10:07 - Phoenix Group (PHNX), the UK's largest specialist closed life fund consolidator, said it has mutually agreed to terminate discussions with CVC Capital Partners regarding a possible offer by CVC for Phoenix.
Phoenix also confirmed it is not in discussions with any other party regarding a potential offer for the company.
"Whilst the board is obliged to consider credible approaches, the terms proposed by CVC did not reflect our view of the full value of Phoenix and its stable, long-term cash flows. As a result, we have mutually decided to terminate these discussions. Phoenix continues to focus fully on our business, customers, shareholders and staff to maximise the potential of our powerful consolidation platform," said the group's chief executive Clive Bannister in a statement.
09:35 - Engineering solutions provider Weir (WEIR) said it has proposed to buy Australian-listed mining equipment manufacturer Ludowici for AU$294 million (£200 million).
The approach elbowed out Danish rival FLSmidth, which showed signs of an approach last month.
Weir said it would pay AU$7.92 per Ludowici share, representing a 10% premium to FLSmidth's indicative proposal of AU$7.20 a share, announced on 23 January.
Brisbane-based Ludowici provides vibrating screens, centrifuges and complementary wear-resistant products and services to the mining industry with a focus on coal applications.
09:00 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) gave up most of its previous day's gains as eurozone finance ministers made a series of demands for Greece to get a €130 billion (£110 billion) bail-out.
The ministers said the Greek parliament would have to approve the terms of a package of cuts and reforms agreed with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Athens must also find a further €325 million in budget cuts by Wednesday, when eurozone ministers meet again.
London's leading share index slipped 31 points to 5865.
Banks were also in focus as Barclays (BARC) published its 2011 results. It was the top performer on the blue-chip index, up more than 1%. On the other side of the coin, ICAP (IAP) slipped 3%.
AIM-listed Westminister Group (WSG) surged up almost 17%, while Akers Biosciences (AKR) plunged more than 40%.
On the economic front, the Office for National Statistics releases British factory gate inflation data for January at 09:30 GMT.
US markets
US markets ended the day in the black after US jobless claims dipped.
The Dow climbed up seven points to 12890, while the S&P 500 trudged up two points to 1352. The Nasdaq rose 11 points to end the day at 2927.
Looking ahead, the Commerce Department will release the December International Trade data at 13:30 GMT. Preliminary figures from the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers will be released at 14:55.
At a glance...
Asian markets
Nikkei 225: 8947 ( 55)
Hang Seng: 20784 ( 226)
Shanghai Composite: 2353 ( three)
Commodities
Gold: $1,720.67
WTI crude oil: $99.61
Currencies
GBP/USD: 1.5795
GBP/EUR: 1.1916
EUR/USD: 1.3261
08:00 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) opens at 5895.47.
