City morning headlines: Greece back in focus as bailout talks resume in Brussels
The election? That's so last week as far as the markets are concerned, as attention has moved swiftly back on to troubled Greece, which will resume discussions over a debt deal with euro zone finance ministers today.
The meeting in Brussels later starts just 24 hours before a €750 million payment to the International Monetary Fund is due, with Greece needing to hand over €7.2 billion.
No breakthrough is expected to come from the talks, with Greece reportedly seeking recognition for the reforms it has implemented so far and the Eurogroup chiefs unlikely to back down on calls for Athens to do more.
Bank of England to hold interest rates
Unlike China, which earlier cut interest rates for a third time in six months to stimulate growth, the Bank of England is expected to keep rates steady at 0.5%.
UK rates have stood at the record low level since 2009. The latest decision will be announced at midday.
Property mega-deal
Italy’s billionaire Agnelli family sells Cushman & Wakefield to DTZ for $2 billion, creating serious challenger to the “big two” agencies CBRE and JLL.
Gatwick oil update
There is More oil at Gatwick in the Horse Hill field. There are now 21 million barrels estimated in the Portland reservoir, up from 8 million previously.
Most of this oil should be recoverable, unlike huge estimates for Kimmeridge reservoir which set hares running last month.
Companies news highlights:
Platinum miner Lonmin is to cut 3,500 jobs after reporting collapsing profits.
The City watchdog orders insurers to be more transparent about costs of paying for insurance – saying “consumers could struggle to compare the difference between paying upfront or in instalments”.
Happy news: an extra 28,000 people died in the first three months of the year, adding £16 million in revenues to funeral firm Dignity.
UBM hires TomTom finance director Marina Wyatt to find her way through the numbers as chief financial officer.
Engineering firm Diploma rides out weaker European markets.
Nedbank – insurer Old Mutual’s South African banking subsidiary – has a “strong” first quarter.
