SimplyStockbroking

The FTSE 100 slipped slightly into the red in the opening hour on Wednesday as investors continue to digest the Greek bailout approved on Monday night. Meanwhile, Chinese manufacturing data has shown an improvement but still shows that the industry is contracting.

Eurozone finance minsters have granted Greece its next €130bn in aid, a move that was crucial to help the heavily-indebted nation avoid a near-term disorderly default. However, the market reaction to the long-awaited deal was rather muted though - the Footsie fell 0.29% yesterday - with doubts still remaining over the nation's longer-term outlook.

Bank of England policy-maker Charlie Bean last night said that while the Greek agreement is "welcome", there still remains “a possibility that events could unfold in a disorderly and damaging fashion at some stage in the future."

HSBC's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the month of January rose to 49.7 points, above the reading of 48.8 seen in the month before, according to preliminary data just released by the lender.

However, the new export orders sub-index is said to have changed direction and begun to contract. China’s exports and imports fell for the first time in more than two years last month, and today's data is seen as validating worries regarding weakness in the external environment. Some economists believe that will lead to economic growth falling below the 8% mark in the first three months of the year.

In other news, Brent crude futures continue to rise, now well past the $120-a-barrel price, as the Greek deal and jitters about supply disruptions from Iran fuel gains.

In domestic news, the minutes of the February meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee will be released this morning.

Shares in AIM-listed Cove Energy jumped after Anglo-Dutch integrated oil firm Royal Dutch Shell launched a bid of 195p per share. The deal values the east Africa-focused company at £992.4m, a 73.3% premium to the closing price of 112.5p on January 4th (the last day before Cove put itself up for sale).

Amongst other things, Cove has a 8.5% stake in the Rovuma Offshore Area 1, Mozambique, operated by Anadarko. Merchant Securities analyst Brendan Long has said this morning that the bid has a strong read-across for companies "that have discovered or are exploring for oil and gas resources that share a similar geological themes, often with higher equity stakes in the assets."

Consumer packaging firm Rexam was a high riser early on after it saw underlying profits growth race ahead of sluggish sales growth on the back of a better than expected performance in its Beverage Cans business, primarily in Europe.

Banks were performing strongly with RBS and Lloyds gaining 1.4% and 0.8%, respectively. Mining peers Evraz, Glencore, Xstrata, Rio Tinto and Vedanta Resources were also on the up as metals prices continue to rise strongly on the back of yesterday's surge.

Cillit Bang maker Reckitt Benckiser was one of the heaviest fallers after going ex-dividend today. Banking giant Barclays and cruise operator Carnival were also lower after trading without the right to their latest quarterly dividends.

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