Markets: FTSE 100 reverses gains on Wednesday
17:10 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) saw its gains evaporate by the close. It was not helped by the persistence of the Greek tragedy as the government there tried to finalise its austerity plan amid concerns that it may yet default.
In a dramatic outburst, Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said that some countries wanted Greece to leave the eurozone and accused the states of "playing with fire".
London's leading index closed 7.71 points lower at 5892.16 with ICAP (IAP) leading the winners, up 3%, while AstraZeneca (AZN) slipped almost 4%.
On AIM, the highest climber at the close was Pentagon Protection (PPR), up 27%, in contrast with Coms (COMS), which ended the session 16% lower.
Interactive Investor users were trading plenty of Xcite Energy (XEL) shares through the site. Meanwhile, Tesco (TSCO) remained a favourite with buyers, while Barclays (BARC) was widely sold.
"Today's performance is actually slightly better than it looks, as a healthy chunk of dividends has been stripped out of some of the heaviest of heavies in the top tier," pointed out Will Hedden, sales trader at IG Index.
"Staples of any high-yield portfolio, like Astrazeneca (-4%) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) (A and B shares both -1%), have moved seamlessly in line with losing their payout appeal," he noted.
At a glance...
Commodities
Gold: $1,728.57 
WTI crude oil: $101.52 
Currencies
GBP/USD: 1.5707
GBP/EUR: 1.1201
EUR/USD: 1.3083
All changes from 09:00 GMT.
16:49 - US stocks remained unsettled on Wednesday as concerned over Greece dented optimism over better-than-expected economic reports on American manufacturing.
After starting higher, the Dow Jones lost 21 points to 12856, while the S&P 500 added three points to 1353 with technology faring best and industrials the worst performing of its 10 industry groups. The Nasdaq was 24 points ahead at 2956.
16:36 - FFastFill (FFA) has been selected by ED&F Man Capital Markets as a key technology provider for execution services.
ED&F Man Capital Markets will join the multi-broker network on the FFastFill Horizon platform and will use the FFastFill Trading Pro application for DMA exchange access across a variety of global venues.
16:24 - Tools and equipment provider Speedy Hire (SDY) said trading for the period to 14 February overall was in line with its expectations.
Group underlying revenues for the third quarter to December rose 7.6% on the year before. It expects to open a further three superstores by the end of February.
The company said it is making steady progress despite the challenging market conditions and uncertain economic outlook and the board remains confident of meeting its expectations for the financial year.
Analysts at Panmure Gordon said left their forecasts unchanged but said: "We remain buyers on what we believe is a positive update, though expect little movement either way today given the strong run in the shares already so far this year."
16:09 - Alkane Energy (ALK) has signed a coal bed methane partnership agreement for the exploration of two of its licences with Aberdeen Drilling Management (ADM).
The company said that ADM will initially complete a geological research programme on the licences in the North West of England and East Midlands before finalising drilling commitments.
It will farm in to Alkane's licences, which cover 133 square kilometres and gain up to a 50% share interest in each licence following the completion of a coal bed methane well in the respective licence area.
15:51 - Rambler Metals and Mining (RMM) has announced the acquisition of 4,500,000 shares of Maritime Resources Corp.
In consideration of this initial equity interest, Maritime has invited Rambler to appoint a representative to join Maritime's board of directors. The non-brokered private transaction priced at $0.23 per share will give Rambler a 17% equity stake in Maritime.
Analyst Matthew McDonald at Seymour Pierce had a 'buy’ recommendation on the stock, with a target price of 62p.
15:34 - AngloGold Ashanti (AGD) boasted "record" earnings of $1.3 billion (£0.8 billion) for the full year, despite implementation of South African safety stops which resulted in a sharp fall in fourth-quarter earnings.
South Africa,, which accounts for 40% of AngloGold's output, has ramped up efforts to reduce accidental deaths in the country's mines. Chief executive Mark Cutifani said that the stops were "a significant risk to forecasting production" and estimated that they cost 73,000 ounces in lost output last year, worth about $126 million at current spot prices.
Looking ahead, the company expects to produce between 4.3 million and 4.4 million ounces of gold in 2012.
15:15 - Domino's Pizza (DOM) posted full-year pre-tax profits of £42.2 million, with a 21% dividend increase.
Additionally, the company said that current trading was in line with expectations, with like-for-like sales growth of 3.7% in the first seven weeks of the year.
The stock is trading on a 2012 price to earnings ratio of about 23 times, a valuation deemed "too expensive" by Panmure Gordon analyst Simon French. He had a 'sell' recommendation on the stock.
Wayne Brown, analyst at Collins Stewart, agreed with French, downgrading the stock to a 'hold'. "We were looking for a signal in today's announcement that could boost the volume element of the group's growth rate. There is no short-term plan to increase the rate of store openings above 60," Brown noted.
15:00 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) gave up all of its earlier gains as investors nervously awaited the release of minutes from the last Federal Reserve FOMC meeting.
London's leading share index was trading down 10 points at 5889.
AstraZeneca (AZN) continued to linger in the doldrums, down almost 4%, while Ashmore (ASHM) was at the top of the pack.
At a glance...
Commodities
Gold: $1,734.58
WTI crude oil: $101.74
Currencies
GBP/USD: 1.5699
GBP/EUR: 1.1988
EUR/USD: 1.3097
All changes from 09:00 GMT.
14:48 - US markets were mixed at the open on Wednesday despite positive industrial production data.
While industrial production was unchanged in January, the December figure was revised higher from 0.4% to 1.0%.
The Nasdaq climbed seven points to 2939, while the S&P 500 rose two points to 1352.
However, the Dow Jones bucked the trend with a 34-point fall to 12843.
14:34 - Thorntons' (THT) stock jumped on Wednesday despite a sharp fall in half-year profits.
The chocolate retailer showed its soft centre as it revealed pre-tax profits had shrunk by almost two thirds year on year from £8.4 million to £3.1 million in the 28 weeks to 7 January.
However, after stripping out £2.4 million of exceptional items, including "onerous leases", the group's profits fell to just £618,000, although it said profit margin and market share had both improved.
Even taking store closures into account, sales dropped 5.5%. The company is on track to close 120 shops, as announced last summer. It has earmarked a further 60 which may be shut, which would leave it with around 200 owned branches.
14:19 - Shares in Norcon (NCON) plunged almost 18% as it warned that pre-tax profit and net profit would now be "lower than market expectations".
"The company's profit before tax has been impacted by higher than anticipated foreign exchange, financial, recruitment, and relocation costs. Net income has been impacted by a higher-than-anticipated tax charge in Saudi Arabia," said the company.
The company will publish its final results on 13 April.
14:04 - Global satellite network operator STM has entered into a contract to buy capacity on Avanti Communications' (AVN) HYLAS 1.
STM will be installing an STM SatLink 9400 RCS2 ready hub in Avanti's Gateway Earth Station at Goonhilly. Additionally, STM will be using Avanti's DVB-RCS multiband terminals.
13:49 - ITM Power (ITM) has signed a co-operation agreement with Logan Energy for project development and tendering in Scotland.
Under the terms of the agreement, ITM Power and Logan Energy will jointly tender for hydrogen energy storage and clean fuel projects in Scotland. Logan Energy will undertake all project management and after-sales support for any plant installed.
"I am sure that the synergies between Logan Energy and ITM Power will reap benefits for both companies," said ITM's chief executive, Graham Cooley.
13:34 - The Bank of England (BoE) expects inflation in two years' time to undershoot the target only fractionally, compared to the 0.7% undershoot seen in November's forecasts.
In its quarterly inflation report, the BoE said inflation would be back at its 2% target. In other words, the committee seems to think that the extra £50 billion of quantitative easing announced last week should be enough to get inflation on target.
Howard Archer believes that the report contains a modest further bias towards further monetary policy easing. "We now lean towards the view that the Bank of England will do £25 billion more quantitative easing in May and another £25 billion in August, rather than £50 billion in May," he said, adding that interest rates are not expected to rise until "at least late-2013 and could very well stay put at 0.50% until 2014".
13:19 - Morgan Crucible (MGCR) confirmed it was "well placed" to make further progress in 2012 against the three-year financial goals that were announced in early 2011.
The announcement came as the company published its full-year results to 1 January, with revenues and pre-tax profits increasing 8.2% and 39.3% respectively. Revenues from "dynamic growth economies" such as China and India increased by 23% and now represented about 25% of total group revenue.
The final dividend was increased by 20%.
Finally, net debt at year end stood at £215.4 million, with the debt to EBITDA ratio standing at 1.2 times.
13:04 - Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) is to combine its existing Spanish retail broking business with the fourth-largest commercial insurance broker in Spain, March, to form March-JLT.
Jardine Lloyd Thompson will pay €16.8 million (£14.1 million) for a 25% interest in the combined business. The transaction remains subject to Spanish regulatory approval.
"March-JLT will be in an ideal position to better exploit cross-border opportunities in Europe and Latin America, with the JLT Network creating an important link to the international and London markets," said Mark Drummond Brady, international chairman of JLT's risk and insurance division.
12:49 - The Ntorya-1 exploration well has encountered "strong gas shows in a good-quality reservoir" at 2,600 metres, said participants Solo Oil (SOLO) and Aminex on Wednesday (AEX).
Solo Oil, which has a 25% interest in the well, saw its shares rise almost 14%. Shares in Aminex - which holds the remaining stake - surged up almost 33%.
Read: Solo and Aminex surge on Tanzanian discovery, for more.
12:31 - Shares in sportswear retailer Sports Direct (SPD) were on the up on Wednesday after it revealed accelerating sales growth in the third quarter which could prompt a dividend rise.
Chief executive Dave Forsey described the quarter as "strong" and noted significant growth in the e-commerce division.
Read: Sports Direct eyes dividend rise as sales grow, for more.
12:00 - Comments that China was ready to help the eurozone buoyed the FTSE 100 (UKX) on Wednesday.
London's leading share index rose 13 points to 5913, shrugging off the increase in UK unemployment.
"The prospect of Chinese largesse being liberally applied to stem this never-ending crisis is a powerful tonic for beleaguered investors, especially coming at this time, when it looks more and more likely that Greece will be unceremoniously ejected from the eurozone," said Rupert Osborne, futures dealer at IG Index.
"Impatience with Athens is building amongst the AAA-core of the eurozone, namely Germany, Finland and the Netherlands, aided by the belief that the necessary measures to contain a Greek default and prevent contagion are now in place," he added.
Banks soared on the news, with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Barclays (BARC) up 4% and 3% respectively.
On the AIM front, CareCapital Group (CARE) plunged 17%, while Alexander David Investments (ADI) soared almost 25%.
Xcite Energy (XEL) and Aminex (AEX) were the two most-traded shares on Interactive Investor on Wednesday morning.
Looking ahead, minutes from the last Federal Reserve FOMC meeting will be released after the London market close at 19:00 GMT.
"If the minutes show guarded optimism among policymakers, then this might inject more fuel into the rally, with 6000 still a respectable proposition from the FTSE 100's current position," predicted Osborne.
At a glance...
Commodities
Gold: $1,726.49
WTI crude oil: $101.54
Currencies
GBP/USD: 1.5712
GBP/EUR: 1.1942
EUR/USD: 1.3156
All changes from 09:00 GMT.
11:41 - The Öksüt resource estimate in Turkey has exceeded one million ounces of gold, boasted Stratex International (STI) on Wednesday.
"It is now our intention to further investigate the potential for extensions of the Ortaçam North ore body further to the north and east where it remains open-ended," said chief executive Bob Foster.
For more, read: Revised gold estimate buoys Stratex International.
11:18 - Vedanta Resources' subsidiary (VED), Sterlite Industries, has been ordered to pay Asarco a gross amount of $132.75 million (£84.6 million) in incidental damages.
This amount shall be reduced by $50 million paid to Asarco in December 2009, making Asarco entitled for a net amount of $82.75 million.
"Sterlite is examining the order and will take appropriate action based on legal advice," the company said.
10:51 - Shares in Forte Energy (FTE) gained a tenth of their value as the AIM-listed company confirmed extensions at depth at its A238 prospect in Mauritania.
"The latest assay results continue to demonstrate that the A238 Prospect has significant potential above our initial joint ore reserves committee (JORC) resources of 14.9 million pounds of uranium," commented managing director Mark Reilly.
Read: Forte Energy boosted by Mauritanian results, for more.
10:24 - Unemployment on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) measure rose by 48,000 in the three months to December to stand at 2.671 million, while claimant count unemployment rose at a modestly increased rate of 6,900 in January to a two-year high of 1.605 million.
However, unemployment on the ILO measure actually fell by 14,000 in December itself.
"While there are some encouraging signs in the latest labour market data, we still suspect that unemployment is headed significantly higher over the coming months," said Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight. "[GDP] activity will remain too weak for some time to come, and business confidence too weak and fragile, to prevent unemployment moving significantly higher particularly as public sector job cuts are appreciable," he added.
He expects the number of jobless on the ILO measure to reach a peak around 2.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, resulting in an unemployment rate of 9%.
Finally, wages rose 1.8% in December. However, this was at half the consumer price inflation level, which reached 3.6% in January.
10:01 - Smart Metering Systems (SMS) pleased investors on Wednesday with a trading update that revealed rising revenue and profit.
Full-year results will be unveiled in April but the company said its unaudited management accounts point to figures ahead of current market expectations.
For the full story, read: Smart Metering Systems rises after profit and revenues jump.
09:32 - Video search engine group Blinkx (BLNX) saw its shares rise after it announced that it is to partner with US internet services and media company AOL to power the group's video search.
"The partnership expands the quantity and quality of AOL's video search results and also delivers integrated safe search tools that block adult-oriented content from minors," Blinkx said.
Additionally,the company will incorporate AOL's premium video assets into its current index of over 35 million hours of content, "making them easily searchable and accessible to users around the world".
09:00 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) edged cautiously upwards despite an announcement by eurozone finance ministers that their meeting with Greece regarding the bail-out funds would be postponed until Monday.
Despite ex-dividend factors knocking 22 points off, the blue-chip index gained 11 points to 5911.
The ministers stated that Athens had not made transparent that it was going to implement further budget cuts of €325 million (£272 million). It stressed that no guarantee was given that these measures would still be implemented after elections in April.
"Although previously being vocal on his desire to renegotiate the terms of the Greek bail-out, news that Conservative leader Antonis Samaras is now willing to pledge his commitment to the austerity measures, may be giving investors some degree of comfort, but this story has now by and large run its course," commented Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at Interactive Investor.
"The general consensus amongst traders is that Greece will inevitably default and exit the eurozone at some point," he added.
Drug maker AstraZeneca (AZN) fell more than 3% as it went ex-dividend. Essar Energy (ESSR) climbed more than 4%.
In terms of economic data, British unemployment numbers will be released at 09:30 GMT. The Bank of England's latest inflation report will be released at 10:30 GMT
US markets
Markets across the Pond reversed earlier losses after President Barack Obama said that there were "hopeful signs" that payroll tax cuts would be extended to millions of Americans.
This followed dismal US retail sales data, which saw January sales rise 0.4%, less than the 1% expected by analysts.
The Dow climbed four points to 12878. The Nasdaq ended the day flat at 2932, while the S&P 500 slid one point to 1251.
Looking ahead, February's Empire State index will be released at 13:30 GMT, with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) index for February due at 15:00 GMT.
The main focus, however, will be the release of minutes from the last Federal Reserve FOMC meeting, due after the London market close at 19:00 GMT.
At a glance...
Asian markets
Nikkei 225: 9206 ( 208)
Hang Seng: 21365 ( 447)
Shanghai Composite: 2367 ( 22)
Commodities
Gold: $1,727.54
WTI crude oil: $101.71
Currencies
GBP/USD: 1.5716
GBP/EUR: 1.1915
EUR/USD: 1.3164
08:00 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) opens at 5899.87.
