(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors)London close London's winning streak came to an end as Greece continues to wrangle with its Eurozone paymasters. The FTSE 100 shed 37 points 6809 to register its first fall in six days as the Eurogroup meeting in Brussels ended without an agreement being reached. Greece has until the end of the month to find €1.6bn to make a repayment to the International Monetary Fund. Miners were among the prominent fallers on the Footsie leader-board with the likes of Rio Tinto BHP Billiton and Glencore rubbing shoulders in the basement with ex-dividend stocks United Utilities and Compass. House builders were wanted however with Barratt Developments Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon all notching up gains of more than one per cent. Among the mid-caps oilfield support services group Petrofac (LON:PFC) shot up 36p to 973p after Nomura whacked up its price target to 1130p. The best performer of the day was a small cap – Daniel Stewart (LON:DAN) after a successful fund-raising. The stockbroker saw its share rise 41% to 2.93p after it found backers willing to pay 3.35p for a pile of shares. Rob Terry has been active since giving up the helm at Quindell and today it was revealed he has lifted his stake in Imaginatik (LON:IMTK) to 4.17%. Shares in the technology firm have been rising steadily this week and hit 7.625p today up 27%. The market cap of Stratex International (LON:STI) rose by more than a fifth as it announced that production at the Altintepe gold mine in Turkey is scheduled to start in September. Stratex owns 45% of Altintepe but under the terms of the joint venture deal its partner Bahar Madencilik will receive 80% of the net cash until it has recouped the US$39mln that it will spend on construction. Amur Minerals (LON:AMC) advanced 3.75p to 28p on news that the eastern Russia metal explorer had completed its acquisition of the detailed exploration and production licence for the Kun-Manie scheme. On the downside Trap Oil (LON:TRAP) leaked 0.23p to 0.40p after a North Sea well came up dry. Shares in Independent Resources (LON:IRG) were also battered shedding almost a third at 0.68p after the North Africa-focused oil explorer said it would still need extra funding in coming months to keep going and to cover its share of costs on its Ksar Hadada project in Tunisia. US open US markets opened higher even as Greece and EU's finance ministers argue over competing plans to resolve Greece's debt repayment deadline problem. Finland's finance minister Alexander Stubb likened the process of proposal and counter-proposal to a game of table tennis while German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said that rather moving closer to an agreement Greece had moved backwards. Nevertheless US benchmarks are in the blue making them the odds ones out in global markets. The S&P 500 is a couple of points higher at 2110 while the Dow Jones average is 29 points to the good at 17997. The Nasdaq Composite is seven points firmer at 5130. 'The end of the quarter repositioning is being exacerbated by the growing risk of a Fed rate-hike in September. Equity funds are looking to move away from interest-rate sensitive sectors such as utilities but may not be willing to move into more growth orientated stocks which see the most volatility in market pullbacks' suggested Jasper Lawler a market analyst at CMC Markets. In economic news US consumer spending rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.9% in May which was the biggest gain since 2009. Investors are hooking up with IAC/Interactive Corp on reports on CNBC that the media company is looking to hive off a 20% interest in online dating site Match.com. Netflix shares however are proving a turn-off after SocGen downgraded the video streaming outfit. Sportswear king Nike is running in the wrong direction ahead of results expected after the bell while Bed Bath & Beyond holders are taking a bath after the retailer's results released after the bell yesterday came up short of expectations. London lunchtime London shares stayed in the red on Thursday as Greece's creditors upped the stakes in the stand-off over a debt deal. The FTSE 100 Index was six points adrift at 6839 at lunchtime amid reports that Eurozone finance ministers had given Greek premier Alexis Tsipras a midday deadline to submit a "workable proposal". The Eurogroup was understood to be sticking to its plan to work from a 'unanimously agreed' creditor-submitted proposal although this is not thought to have Athens's support. The ministers appeared to be betting that Tsipras will eventually have to back down as Greece faces the prospect of a messy exit from the Eurozone without a deal. Connor Campbell at spread-betting firm Spreadex said: "June has been a month where the creditor cabal has really tightened the noose around Greece seemingly ignoring every attempt at compromise from Tsipras with a steely eyed determination to get what it wants." Tsipras is thought to have tabled fresh proposals involving higher taxes but the International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants stronger pension reforms. A relatively flat performance from the dollar pushed US futures higher following falls on Wednesday ahead of a batch of American economic data. Latest unemployment claims were expected to be slightly higher than last week's whilst the Fed-favoured core PCE price index is forecast to be flat at 0.1% and personal spending and income are both predicted to rise. Campbell said: "If all these dollar-boosting rate hike-helping figures are correct then the Dow could be in for another tough day of trading." On the equity markets Debenhams (LON:DEB) rose 0.55p to 90.85p as it said it was on track to hit full year targets despite flat sales in the third quarter. Shares in the London Stock Exchange (LON:LSE) were flat at 2451p as it reported good progress with its newly acquired US index business Frank Russell. Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSB) shrugged off early losses to stand 3p ahead at 1901.5p after an upgrade to 'buy' from Deutsche Bank. Costain (LON:COST) lifted 1.75p to 339.25p as the construction group reported a £500mln rise in its order book to a record £3.7bn ahead of first half results. News of a US$250mln North Sea deal boosted shares in oil services supplier Wood Group (LON:WG. by 1.5p to 681p. African oil explorer Afren (LON:AFR) gushed 0.14p to 2.14p on news of a board shake-up including the appointment of a new chairman David Frauman. Bathroom fittings supplier Norcros (LON:NXR) floated a penny higher to 19.5p as it bought privately owned bathroom furnishings maker Croydex Group for £21.9mln but Trap Oil (LON:TRAP) leaked 0.2p to 0.42p after a North Sea well came up dry. Shares in Independent Resources (LON:IRG) also dropped 0.28p at 0.72p after the North Africa-focused oil explorer said it would still need extra funding in coming months to keep going and to cover its share of costs on its Ksar Hadada project in Tunisia. Amur Minerals (LON:AMC) advanced 5.75p to 30p on news that the eastern Russia metal explorer had completed its acquisition of the detailed exploration and production licence for the Kun-Manie scheme. London open The London market started on the back foot as optimism about a potential Greek debt deal earlier in the week began to recede. The FTSE 100 Index was three points adrift at 6841 in mid-morning trading as dealers awaited a Eurogroup meeting later Thursday after late night talks ended without agreement. Greek premier Alexis Tsipras tabled fresh proposals involving higher taxes but the International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants stronger pension reforms. Mike van Dulken at Accendo Markets said: "Bargaining room is shrinking for the embattled Tsipras & co." IG Markets analyst Stan Shamu said: 'Optimism around a Greek deal had been driving price action all week but a stall in the negotiation process has put the brakes on the rally." 'As far as we know Greece was in negotiations with creditors deep into the night but no agreement was reached. 'Even if we do get a deal this does not guarantee the country can pay the IMF on time.' Wall Street ended Wednesday's session in the red with all three major benchmarks falling. The Dow Jones shed 178 points 0.98% to 17966 while the S&P 500 dropped 0.74% and the Nasdaq was down a similar amount. In Asia the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.75% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was about 50% lower. Australia's ASX 200 lost about 0.8% while Japan's Nikkei fared better down just 0.15%. On the equity markets Debenhams (LON:DEB) rose 0.55p to 90.85p as it said it was on track to hit full year targets despite flat sales in the third quarter. Shares in the London Stock Exchange (LON:LSE) were flat at 2451p as it reported good progress with its newly acquired US index business Frank Russell. Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSB) shrugged off early losses to stand 3p ahead at 1901.5p after an upgrade to 'buy' from Deutsche Bank. Costain (LON:COST) lifted 1.75p to 339.25p as the construction group reported a £500mln rise in its order book to a record £3.7bn ahead of first half results. African oil explorer Afren (LON:AFR) gushed 0.14p to 2.14p on news of a board shake-up including the appointment of a new chairman David Frauman. Bathroom fittings supplier Norcros (LON:NXR) floated a penny higher to 19.5p as it bought privately owned bathroom furnishings maker Croydex Group for £21.9mln but Trap Oil (LON:TRAP) leaked 0.2p to 0.42p after a North Sea well came up dry. London pre-open London's blue-chips are expected to open on the back foot albeit not by much. The much hoped-for Greek debt deal has yet to materialise and not for the first (or possibly last) time stock markets fell on concerns for what a Greek default or a so-called 'Grexit' from the Eurozone might do to Europe's financial systems. 'Optimism around a Greek deal had been driving price action all week but a stall in the negotiation process has put the brakes on the rally' said Stan Shamu analyst at IG Markets. 'As far as we know Greece was in negotiations with creditors deep into the night but no agreement was reached. 'Even if we do get a deal this does not guarantee that the country can pay the IMF on time.' Wall Street ended Wednesday's session in the red with all three major benchmarks falling. The Dow Jones shed 178 points 0.98% to 17966 while the S&P 500 dropped 0.74% and the Nasdaq was down a similar amount. In Asia the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.75% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was about 50% lower. Australia's ASX 200 lost about 0.8% while Japan's Nikkei fared better down just 0.15%. In London IG Markets predicts the FTSE 100 will open about 15 points lower at 6831 to 6836.
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