(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) Banks tumbled to the bottom of the FTSE 100 in early deals as the European Central Bank (ECB) tightened the screw on Greece.
The central bank has started to play hard ball with the country’s new finance minister Yanis Varoufakis - reviving fears of a messy conclusion to Greece's debt problems.
Yesterday the ECB revoked a waiver that allowed banks to use Greek government debt as collateral for loans - a reminder of who’s holding the upper hand in the negotiations with Athens.
The debt standoff is largely responsible for the 50 points which disappeared from London’s top equity index in early deals – the FTSE 100 is now hovering around the 6800 mark.
Lloyds () () and RBS () all headed south as trading got underway in London.
Oil retraced Wednesday’s gains as US crude inventories grew yet again highlighting the global supply glut problem.
() fell 4% adding to yesterday’s declines while () and Shell () also lost out.
At the other end BT () was 2.7% higher with shares at 434p as it reached a deal to buy EE - a move which unites Britain’s largest supplier of fixed telephone lines with the UK’s dominant mobile phone network.
() fell 1% despite a stronger showing in Europe where the UK returned to top line growth. BT’s EE deal means analysts will want to know how plans to cope with the pressure piled on it by consolidation across the market.
Meanwhile in focus today will be the Bank of England rate announcement then US jobless claims.
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