By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks fell Tuesday, losing ground
alongside the broader European market after a collapse in talks
between Greece and eurozone finance ministers reignited fears.
Decliners in London trade included InterContinental Hotels Group
PLC following a trading update.
The FTSE 100 lost 0.3% to 6,838.84, moving toward a second
straight loss. On Monday, talks among eurozone finance ministers
broke down abruptly after Greece's anti-austerity government
rejected an extension to its 240-billion-euro ($272 billion)
bailout program under the conditions offered by its European
partners. A new Eurogroup meeting might be scheduled for
Friday.
The Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.6% to 374.60. The eurozone is the
U.K.'s key trading partner.
In London, InterContinental Hotels Group shares fell 1.8%. The
company, whose brands include Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn Hotels
& Resorts, said full-year 2014 revenue fell to $1.86 billion,
from $1.90 billion a year ago. IHG did raise its total dividend by
10%, to 77 cents a share.
Shares of Standard Chartered PLC were down 0.9% after the bank
was downgraded to buy from hold at Investec. "We continue to
believe that [Standard Chartered] has no need to raise capital, and
that it would be ill-advised to do so, but we feel like we're
losing that argument," said Investec's Ian Gordon in a note. "If
management, old or new, has the courage to face down its critics,
and deliver credible reassurance that it will not raise capital, we
think the shares could recover strongly, but that's now an
'if'."
Advancers included copper miner Fresnillo PLC and supermarket
chain Tesco PLC , higher by 0.9% and 0.3%, respectively.
Investors will look for the release of January inflation figures
at 9:30 a.m. London time, or 4:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The pound
(GBPUSD) was trading at $1.5351 ahead of the report, compared with
$1.5364 late Monday.
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