Markets: FTSE 100 falls back on Tuesday
17:11 - Frustration with the lack of progress on Greece caused the FTSE 100 (UKX) to close down 30.66 points at 5751.90.
"After the kind of rally we’ve had over the past week, some sort of pull-back was almost inevitable. But what we are seeing here seems to be more of a general feeling of caution, rather than the beginning of a full-blown retreat," said Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG Index.
Beauchamp noted that investors seemed content to "sit and wait" for now, but that a complete collapse on the Greek deal could spark more selling.
Additionally, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief warned that the world's economy is "deeply into the danger zone" because of risks from the eurozone.
In her latest statement, perpetually gloomy Christine Lagarde said the IMF predicts the global economy will grow by 3.25% in 2012, down from an earlier forecast of 4%. The growth forecast for the UK economy has been cut to 0.6% from 1.6%.
She believes that the eurozone can expect a "mild recession" this year with gross domestic product shrinking by 0.5%, compared with a previous forecast of 1.1% growth.
Of the blue-chips, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) closed down more than 4% after it said that regulatory issues and ongoing cyclical headwinds would weigh on fund flows. International Power (IPR) was at the top of the pack, closing up more than 2%.
AIM-listed GMA Resources (GMA) saw its shares more than double, while Colliers International (COL) saw its shares lose a quarter of their value.
Interactive Investor users bought into Leed Petroleum (LDP) today, after the shares became slightly cheaper. Tesco (TSCO) was the second-most-popular buy of the day while banks including RBS and Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) were widely sold.
At a glance...
Commodities
Gold: $1,667.28 
WTI crude oil: $99.12
Currencies
GBP/USD: 1.5594 
GBP/EUR: 1.1991
EUR/USD: 1.3005
All changes from 09:00 GMT.
16:49 - Markets across the Pond recouped some of their losses, with the Dow Jones down 42 points to 12667 and the S&P 500 falling four points to 1312.
However, the Nasdaq climbed back into the black after shares of EMC Corporation (EMC) and Western Digital Corporation (WDC) lifted the technology sector. The index was unchanged at 2784. Investors were also cautiously optimistic ahead of Apple's (AAPL) latest set of earnings, which will come following the close of the market.
"Investors will be watching keenly to see if there is any sign that the appetite for Apple's range of shiny gadgets is weakening, or whether the company expects a good performance in 2012," commented Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG Index.
16:31 - Shares in Scotty (SCO) lost a tenth of their value as the company warned that negotiations for the supply of additional aero-certified systems for Diamond customers and for other government organisations on some contracts were not yet finalised, "with the result that deliveries for these contracts are expected to take place in 2012 instead".
This is expected to result in turnover for the financial year ended 31 December to be in the region of €6 million (£5 million). "While this is significantly less than expected, as stated above we expect delayed deliveries to benefit 2012 revenues," the company stated.
Additionally, Scotty said that profits for the year would be adversely affected by the "lower turnover and by various one-off costs including the conversion of the group's holding company to an SE, the ongoing move of the group's corporate seat to Austria and reorganisation costs associated with developments in the group's long-term strategy".
16:13 - Confectionery and snack foods group Zetar (ZTR) posted revenues and pre-tax profits up 2.4% and 13% respectively for the six months ended 31 October, while warning of "declining consumer confidence reflected in retailer caution and potential for lower Easter sales" compared to last year.
However, chief executive Ian Blackburn reassured investors. "The group's robust business model, combined with its strengthened financial position and progress in extending our portfolio of brands, means that we are well placed to capitalise on future growth opportunities," he said.
15:55 - A "robust contribution" from the Gounkoto mine in Mali allowed Randgold Resources (RRS) to increase gold production in 2011 "despite the substantial challenges presented by the development of two underground mines and the plant expansion".
"Gounkoto is expected to recoup its relatively low capital cost by the end of the first quarter of 2012," the company said.
Additionally, the government of Mali has agreed to split the Loulo mining permit, making Gounkoto a stand-alone operation.
15:36 - Atlantic Coal (ATC) confessed that it had not met its 2011 targeted annual production of 300,000 tons of run-of-mine coal (ROM) as it published its production update for the 12 months ending 31 December.
The company managed to produce only 208,730 tons of ROM after experiencing increasing mechanical problems with its DeMag H185 excavator, which caused it to cease its operation altogether from September 2011.
Additionally, the company warned that "certain delays" in negotiations with operators regarding commissioning the railroad diversion would result in a higher ratio of coal to overburden than Atlantic's mine plan had originally forecast.
However, the coal producer stressed that the acquired Komatsu PC2000 hydraulic excavator, that replaced the DeMag H185 excavator, had already had a positive effect on production. "The board anticipates [production] will be further enhanced when the second Liebherr 9250 19-yard bucket hydraulic excavator becomes operational, scheduled to be in the first quarter of 2012," the company added.
15:18 - Cairn Energy (CNE) shares moved lower after it withdrew its plans to award non-executive chairman Sir Bill Gammell share options worth £2.5 million.
The move was raised with shareholders earlier this month as part of Sir Bill's reward package for securing the sale of a controlling stake in Cairn India last year to Vedanta Resources (VED) for $5.5 billion (c£3.5 million). But it was blocked by institutional investors.
A report in The Financial Times suggested that shareholders are angry the award contains no performance criteria.
Shares in Cairn Energy have dropped 34% in the past 12 months despite the successful disposal in India.
15:00 - Financials continued to stifle the FTSE 100 (UKX) as sentiment was hit by the prospect of a Greek debt default.
London's leading share index fell 59 points to 5723, led by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which fell almost 5% after it said that regulatory issues and ongoing cyclical headwinds would weigh on fund flows.
Weir Group (WEIR) bucked the trend, climbing up almost 2%, after Goldman Sachs repeated its 'buy' rating.
At a glance...
Commodities
Gold: $1,664.49
WTI crude oil: $98.51
Currencies
GBP/USD: 1.5575
GBP/EUR: 1.2014
EUR/USD: 1.2965
All changes from 09:00 GMT.
14:44 - US markets continued the downward trend seen across the UK and Europe at the open, as eurozone finance ministers deemed demands by private creditors for a 4% coupon for any new bonds as too high.
Greece has until March to work out a deal with private bondholders or face default on debt due to mature that month.
The Dow plummeted 83 points to 12626. The Nasdaq fell 18 points to 2767, while the S&P 500 followed suit with a nine-point decline to 1307.
In corporate news, shares in InterDigital () sank more than 14% as it announced that it would no longer continue with a strategic review and focus instead on being a stand-alone company.
14:31 - Serabi Gold (SRB) has upgraded the gold grade achieved at the Piaui Prospect at its 100%-owned Jardim do Ouro project by 14.9%.
"The upgrade of the preliminary results from our latest drill programme, covering a cumulative strike length of 700 metres, has enhanced the potential of Piaui Prospect," commented chief executive Mike Hodgson.
Additionally, the Brazilian-focused gold explorer confirmed that it had received 30-gram fire assay results from shallow extension drilling on the south-eastern strike extension of the Palito deposit.
"The confirmation of preliminary results re-enforces the value of the Palito laboratory facility in providing reliable and rapid turnaround in results and enabling the flexibility to rapidly direct exploration to the most prospective areas in the company's projects and maintain the agility to garner the most from new exploration information generated," said Hodgson.
14:10 - GGG Resources (GGG), along with its joint-venture partners, Auzex Resources and Bullabulling Gold, on Tuesday executed a purchase agreement option to acquire 100% of the Geko Gold Project, located in Western Australia.
"[The] joint venture considers the transaction to offer significant exploration potential for gold mineralisation that may be complementary to a future mining operation currently under pre-feasibility at Bullabulling," the company said.
The option fee was $200,000 (c£128,000). The purchase price of $3 million was composed of $0.5 million in cash, with the remainder paid in cash or Bullabulling scrip.
13:49 - Old Mutual (OML) has decided to combine its wealth management Continental Europe business (France and Italy) with the Skandia retail Europe business unit (Germany, Austria, Poland and Switzerland).
The decision came as a result of a strategic review of the businesses due to macroeconomic and regulatory developments in the European long-term savings and investment markets and changes in customer preferences.
Hein Donders has been appointed chief executive of the new business unit. Current chief executive of Retail Europe, Jonas Jonsson, is to work with Donders for several months to establish the new business unit, before assuming a new strategic role within Old Mutual.
13:27 - Land Securities (LAND) warned that letting transactions were taking longer to execute as it published its third-quarter interim management statement.
However, chief executive Francis Salway said he remained confident of the company's ability to "withstand economic fluctuations" and "to take advantage of opportunities that may arise from the scarcity of bank funding".
Land Securities has signed a new £1.05 billion five-year revolving credit facility during the quarter to replace its existing £1.5 billion revolving credit facility and £400 million of bilateral arrangements. Additionally, the company has retained £300 million of existing bilateral arrangements which are due to expire in November 2014.
13:13 - Faroe Petroleum (FPM) announced three new senior appointments on Tuesday.
Paul Willcocks joins as business development manager from Standard Chartered (STAN), where he was managing director in oil and gas M&A.
Ian Wilson has been appointed as UK exploration manager. He started his career with BP (BP.) and has since worked at Enterprise Oil, Kerr McGee and Serica Energy.
Bjørn Berntsen is the company's new Norway asset manager, bringing more than 20 years of industry experience and a very successful track record in exploration, development, resource management and field development projects in Norway, Denmark and Yemen.
12:58 - Solo Oil (SOLO) revealed that "significant progress" had been made on a number of field activities associated with the ongoing development of the Ausable Field Gas Recycling and Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) project.
The North Airport #1 exploration well, which was recently spudded, is expected to reach intermediate casing point by mid-February and to reach target depth at 608 metres by early March.
Additionally, the venturi pump has been successfully installed in the Ausable #5 well, while the infield flow-line construction to the Ausable #2 well was underway to allow connection to the venturi pump system.
12:42 - Media giant WPP (WPP) has acquired a majority stake in 41?29! Media Internet, an independent digital communications agency based in Istanbul.
"This investment continues WPP's strategy of developing its services in fast-growing and important markets and sectors and strengthening its capabilities in digital media," said the company.
12:25 - Caledonia Mining (CMCL) announced that it more than doubled its gold production for the year ended 31 December at 35,826 ounces.
The gold exploration company now said that it was confident of achieving its targeted gold production of 40,000 ounces for the current financial year.
Additionally, Caledonia confirmed that discussions with the government of Zimbabwe regarding the indigenisation of the Blanket Mine were continuing.
12:00 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) nudged lower throughout Tuesday morning's trading, as markets showed almost no reaction to rumbling issues in the eurozone.
The blue chip index was 42 points in the red at 5740, with a reversal of fortune for Weir Group (WEIR) as it moved into the black for the first time in days. Banks including Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) took the bottom spots.
Over on AIM, green technology company Teg Group (TEG) was top of the pops, up 34%, while estate agent Colliers International (COL) slumped 29%.
Rupert Osborne, futures dealer at IG Index, said the FTSE 100's banking weakness is a trend across Europe as talks with Greek debt holders once more appear to have hit the buffers.
"Some would say the market is being surprisingly patient regarding these ongoing negotiations - but if this lack of progress ends up being a recurring theme it seems unlikely that traders will continue having such a sanguine view."
Looking ahead to the US, Osborne said a quiet session on Wall Street last night saw the Dow finishing in the middle of the range and overnight markets suggest a weaker start today, down around 45 points.
At a glance...
Commodities
Gold: $1,666.44
WTI crude oil: $99.22
Currencies
GBP/USD: 1.5564
GBP/EUR: 1.1967
EUR/USD: 1.3006
All changes from 09:00 GMT.
11:43 - Investment company Viridas (VIR) saw its shares jump more than 12% on Tuesday after it announced that it has sold 592,666,667 ordinary shares in AIM favourite Leed Petroleum (LDP) at an average price per share of 0.48p or for an aggregate consideration of £2,869,200.
"Given the increase in the valuation of Leed, and the strong interest in the company being shown by a range of investors, Viridas has decided to sell the majority of its holding in order to make funds available for other investment opportunities," explained Viridas chairman Nicholas Lee.
Read: Leed Petroleum stumbles as Viridas sells, for the full story.
11:21 - PZ Cussons (PZC) posted a 10% increase in revenue growth for the half year to 30 November, driven by the UK, Indonesia and Nigeria.
However, the company warned that profits were negatively impacted by "high raw material costs, adverse exchange rate movements and challenging trading conditions in other markets, particularly Australia".
"With input costs stabilising, the completion of the Fudge acquisition and a 'significant focus on brand renovation and further margin improvement', the outlook for the second half should be better, particularly if losses in Australia can be stemmed," commented Graham Jones, analyst at Panmure Gordon.
However, Jones cut his earnings per share forecast for the year from 16.35p to 15.60p, predicting that social instability in Nigeria and strike action relating to the abolition of the fuel duty subsidy would create significant disruption. He had a 'hold' recommendation on the stock.
10:59 - NovaSeis, San Leon Energy's (SLE) wholly-owned subsidiary, has acquired more than 2,280 kilometres of 2D seismic across its Tarfaya and Zag Licences onshore Morocco.
"We view Morocco as a long-term project for the company with significant upside over a huge unexplored area," commented chairman Oisin Fanning.
For more, read: San Leon boosted by "significantly improved" Moroccan data.
10:37 - EnQuest (ENQ) has acquired a 25% interest in the Kraken oil discovery, together with interests in surrounding exploration acreage, from Nautical Petroleum (NPE).
EnQuest will acquire a 25% interest in blocks 9/2b and 9/2c, a 15% interest in blocks 3/22a and 3/26 and a 10% interest in blocks 9/6a and 9/7b. Nautical estimates that the Kraken discovery holds gross contingent resource of 160 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe). EnQuest will pay Nautical between $150 million (£96.4 million) and $240 million, depending on the gross 2P reserves in Kraken.
"Based on the operator's estimates, this 25% interest in Kraken provides 40MMboe of contingent resources, which when combined with the 32MMboe of contingent resources from the 20% interest that EnQuest acquired earlier this month from Canamens, adds almost 70% to EnQuest's end-2010 contingent resources," calculated Amjad Bseisu, chief executive of EnQuest.
10:11 - Investors sent shares in Chemring Group (CHG) tumbling as it published its preliminary results for the year ended 31 October and warned that 2012 would "not be any easier" than 2011.
The defence manufacturing company posted revenues and pre-tax profits for the year up 25% and 6% respectively, despite stating that "increasing deficits" and "lower economic growth" had affected defence procurement, "leading to volume reductions and delays".
Read: Gloomy outlook sends Chemring plummeting, for the full story.
09:49 - Britain's economic outlook has improved slightly since the central bank launched a second round of quantitative easing (QE) in October, but more QE will probably still be needed, Bank of England policymaker Adam Posen said on Monday.
Posen - a lone advocate of more QE throughout most of 2011 - stopped short of directly calling for further asset purchases when the current £75 billion worth are complete at the end of the month, saying that the Bank was still revising its quarterly forecasts.
For more, read: Bank's Posen says outlook better but problems remain.
09:27 - Sage Group (SGE) announced that it had made a "satisfactory start to the year", with trading "in line with expectations" as it published its interim management statement from 1 October to date.
During the quarter, the company received £200 million from the sale of Sage Software Healthcare which was to be returned to shareholders. Sage confirmed that, to date, 17.7 million shares had been repurchased for an aggregate consideration of £50 million.
Shares in the company have outperformed the FTSE All Share by about 7% in the past quarter, with Panmure Gordon analyst George O'Connor attributing the success to "a track record of strong cash generation, a whopping six million global customer base, leading market share in its niche and 66% annuity style revenue [which] makes for a robust business model".
O'Connor estimates that the shares are trading on a 2012 price to earnings ratio of about 15 times, with a dividend yield of more than 3%. He had a 'buy' recommendation on the stock.
09:00 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) showed no signs of adding to the gains it made after its six-month closing high in the previous session.
The prospect of failing Greek debt negotiations dampened enthusiasm. Eurozone finance ministers rejected an offer made by private bondholders on Monday evening to help restructure Greece's debts, sending negotiators back to the drawing board.
London's leading benchmark slipped 36 points lower to 5746 with Essar Energy (ESSR) taking an early lead while Ashmore (ASHM) moved lower.
On the economic front, Bank of England policymaker Adam Posen described the outlook as being slightly improved, but suggested more quantitative easing will probably be required.
In corporate news, HSBC (HSBA) has appointed Stuart Levey as group managing director with effect from 18 January.
Levey, who was appointed chief legal officer at the bank just last week, reports to Stuart Gulliver, group chief executive.
US markets
US stocks ended almost flat on Monday as investors drew breath following the recent rallies and waited to see what would happen with bellwethers such as Apple (AAPL) and the next decision on interest rates.
The Dow Jones closed 11 points lower at 12708 after giving up most of its gains from its highest intraday level since May 2010.
The S&P 500 managed to reclaim many of its gains to finish up 0.6 of a point at 1316 - its highest close since 26 July 2011. The Nasdaq lost two points to end at 2784.
At a glance...
Asian markets
Nikkei 225: 8785 ( 19)
Hang Seng: closed
Shanghai Composite: closed
Commodities
Gold: $1,671.90
WTI crude oil: $99.73
Currencies
GBP/USD: 1.5553
GBP/EUR: 1.1958
EUR/USD: 1.3007
08:00 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) opens at 5782.56.
