(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors)FTSE100 closed higher after an upbeat session as traders were cheered by hopes of a Greek debt deal. The UK benchmark closed over nine points higher at 6834. The biggest gainer was Sports Direct (LON:SPD) which added 3.2% to 725p. It came as the stock was upgraded to 'outperform' by RBC Capital Markets. Analyst Richard Chamberlain says new online initiatives such as a 'click and collect' service are boosting the sports retailer. He also highlights that some risks to the business - mostly notable the threat to 'zero-hour' contracts used by the group - have reduced recently following the UK general election. The biggest laggard on the blue chip index was outsourcer Bunzl (LON:BNZL) which dropped 2.06% to 1852p after it unveiled a slowdown in organic growth in the second quarter. Chris Beauchamp at spreadbetters IG struck a cautious tone: " Yesterday's developments have been taken as a signal that investors can stop worrying about Greece for now as some sort of solution is on its way. "If we reach the end of the week without a deal the response could be ugly. Already Greek lawmakers are indicating their displeasure and there is still much work to be done before we can safely say that the issue is resolved but for now the default assumption remains that a successful end is on its way." Meanwhile in FTSE250 support services group Serco (LON:SRP) climbed more than 8% as traders voiced optimism that the worst could be over for the company which launched a restructuring following problems with a UK government prisoner tagging contract. The upbeat sentiment was fuelled by an earlier meeting between analysts and the group's finance director Angus Cockburn. Shore Capital said in a note: "It is clear to our minds that significant change has now been implemented with regard to the operating culture of Serco from both a client relationship perspective and in terms of financial reporting." The biggest London gainer was Nomad Foods (LON:NHL) after the group which owns Birds Eye frozen food had a tasty launch on the stock market as its shares soared 80%. The shares were admitted to the main market of the London Stock Exchange. The group's operating subsidiary Iglo owns the Iglo and Birds Eye brands after Nomad agreed to buy Iglo Foods Holdings for €2.6bn in April. In the small caps. Seeing Machines (LON:SEE) shares advanced over 8.5% to 4.75p after the operator monitoring specialist said its alliance with mining equipment giant Caterpillar had seen significant mining sales deals struck for the firm's technology in Australia and Canada. The sales of DSS to new and existing clients by Caterpillar dealers augurs well for Seeing Machine's fourth quarter the group said Madagascar Oil (LON:MOIL) gained 25% to 8.75p as it said it had now submitted an environmental impact assessment for the initial phase of the Tsimiroro field development. The submission to Madagascar's Office Nationale de l'Environnement (O.N.E.) comes after the government approved the project's development plan in April. MOIL highlights that the EIA is significant as it is the first ever petroleum exploitation EIA to be conducted in Madagascar. The study was developed in consultation with the O.N.E. to ensure the EIA is in line with national requirements and international best practice the company added. US OPEN US shares rose on the open mirroring global equity markets as investors welcomed the perceived easing of the Greek debt crisis and awaited a clutch of economic data. The Greek government has presented amended terms and reforms in the hope of an extension but there are still days to go potentially before the agreement is signed off. Traders have already received stats on durable-goods orders which came in weaker than expected and are also waiting for US housing data. On Monday US stocks closed higher on Monday with the Nasdaq hitting a record high. Today the Dow Jones was up 50 to 18169 while the Nasdaq added one point to 5155. The S&P500 was up three to 2126. Also buoying investor sentiment is data from China which suggested the economic slowdown may be easing somewhat there. HSBC's China manufacturing data for June was a tad higher than expected but still showed a contraction but analysts reckoned there were signs of improvement as government measures start to take effect. Most followed Ladbrokes (LON:LAD) has confirmed press speculation that it is in talks with Gala Coral about a merger of their betting businesses. 'A merger with Gala Coral could create a combined business with significant scale and has the potential to generate substantial cost synergies creating value for both companies' shareholders' said Jim Mullen the chief executive of Ladbrokes. Meanwhile Boylesports is reportedly set to pull the trigger with a bid for Ladbrokes' Irish arm despite having failed to persuade the UK bookie to cough up info so Boylesports could do its due diligence. Rightster (LON:RSTR) the digital video distribution and monetisation network likes a gamble … Procter & Gamble to be precise. It has signed two new deals with the multi-national fast moving consumer goods company. In India a campaign to promote the Vicks brand achieved more than 4mln views while in France a campaign centred on Tampax tampons generated more than 1.4mln views and in excess of 18000 'likes' on YouTube alone. In Glasgow Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley is not getting very many 'likes' from the Rangers supporting half of the city. The Rangers First pressure group has voted for an official boycott of Sports Direct (LON:SPD) merchandise in protest over the hold Ashley who effectively controls both Sports Direct and Rangers football club has over the Glasgow footie team. Rangers First which is committed to Rangers being owned by its fans is the 10th biggest shareholder in Rangers International Football Club and wants the current merchandising deal between Rangers and Sports Direct to be renegotiated. Motif Bio (LON:MTFB) has broken the immutable law of share placings which is that they invariably lead to a slide in the share price. The shares edged higher to 65.7p from 64.25p overnight after the company placed shares at 50p a pop raising £22mln in the process. Alecto Minerals (LON:ALO) down 0.002p at 0.163p has not been so fortunate after it placed shares at 0.1p raising £300000 in the process. The funds will provide working capital while it does due diligence on potential acquisition opportunities in the African gold mining sector. Lastly oilfield support services group Petrofac (LON:PFC) has been one of the better performing mid-caps this year and was up sharply again this morning despite warning investors it faces £30mln of extra costs on the Laggan-Tormore project near the Shetland Islands. Investors seem to be hoping that this morning's trading update will put a line under the offshore money pit after Petrofac said construction activities on the project are substantially complete. There was good news on the order book front with the group's backlog of orders standing at record levels at the end of May. London Open London's blue-chip stocks opened on the front foot again this morning although at a reduced pace as markets mirror the sentiments and speculation surrounding Greece's on-going debt negotiations. Greece has been given 48 hours to reach a deal and creditors are looking for an acceptable agreement tomorrow so that EU leaders can rubber-stamp it by the end of the week. Meanwhile overnight stocks in the US and in Asia rallied on the renewed optimism that a Greek debt deal can be reached. Back in the UK the FTSE 100 was 17 points to the good at 6842 with Sports Direct (LON:SPD) leading the way higher following an upgrade from RBC Capital Markets. The broker bumped its rating to 'outperform' from 'sector perform' and hiked the target price 150p to 800p. Shares climbed 3.7% to 728.5p on the news. Similarly platinum refiner Johnson Matthey (LON:JMAT) was bumped up to a 'buy' from 'neutral' by CitiGroup. Shares rose 2.3% to 3226p. At the other end of the index Bunzl (LON:BNZL) was the biggest faller in early deals. The distribution and support services group unveiled a string of four international acquisitions as it reported an expected rise in half-year revenue. Shares eased 1.6% to 1861p on the news. Meanwhile shares in Lloyds (LON:LLOY) were little changed despite the news that the government today reduced its stake in the bank to below 17%. It sold another 1% taking the total amount recovered by the taxpayer to £11.5bn. Away from the index Ladbrokes (LON:LAD) was a big early gainer as the betting firm announced it is in talks with Gala Coral about a £4bn merger. Investors were excited about the prospect of the combined company creating the UK's biggest gambling group and shares jumped 12% to 137p. In earnings news Telecom Plus (LON:TEP) reported end-of-year results that are in line with the April trading update. Shares climbed 3.3% to 848p. Meanwhile Petrofac (LON:PFC) was higher despite its Laggan-Tormore project costing an extra £30mln to complete. The rest of its portfolio was performing in line with expectations and shares climbed 7% to 932p on the news. In small caps Sirius Petroleum (LON:SRSP) was 18% higher to 0.9p after it announced it has signed a deal with Havoc Partners. Havoc will be Sirius's technical adviser and will provide a technical and commercial assessment of the oil and gas assets which Sirius is interested in. Meanwhile the biggest riser was Birds Eye owner Nomad Foods (LON:NHL). The company which acquired Iglo Foods earlier this month climbed 72% to 20.5p on its first day of trading. Alecto Minerals (LON:ALO) has raised £300000 through a placing at 0.1p with an existing institutional investor. Shares dropped 24% to 0.125p on the news. Tangent Communications (LON:TNG) issued a profit warning due to worse-than-expected performance at its Tangent Snowball division. Shares eased 13% to 2.5p. London Preview Blue-chip stocks in London are set to start Tuesday on an even keel as traders regain their bearings after the recent choppy trading. Trading has largely tracked the sentiment and speculation surrounding Greece's ongoing debt negotiations. In the US and in Asia stocks rallied overnight amid renewed optimism the a Greek debt deal can be reached. 'A new proposal by Greece seems to have done the trick as leaders feel this is a major step towards bridging the gap' said Stan Shamu analyst at IG Markets. On Wall Street the Dow Jones gained more than 100 points 0.58% to trade at 18119 while the S&P 500 added 0.61% to reach 2122 and the Nasdaq was up 0.7% at 5153. Japan's Nikkei jumped over 300 points 1.5% higher to 20747 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 160 points 0.6% to 27242. Australia's ASX 200 gained 1.35% to 5686. The Shanghai Composite was the only major benchmark lit in red though in reality the market was basically flat. Similarly India's Sensex was largely unmoved as well. In London IG Markets predicts the FTSE 100 will start Tuesday's trading just a couple of points lower as it calls the open 6816 to 6821.
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