Friday’s Master Investor Market Report

– The FTSE 100 closed the day at 6,550.74, a decrease of 17.59 points.
– The FTSE 250 rose by 25.46 points to finish at 17,620.93.
– The FTSE All Share dropped by 6.73 points to 3,587.17.
– The FTSE AIM All Share finished at 749.87, a fall of 0.9 points.

The Greek Parliament has voted in favour of the bailout deal after an all night session. The deal will now go before Eurozone finance ministers. The plan involves a fresh round of spending cuts in exchange for an €85 billion (£60.65 billion) bailout.

The Eurozone economy slowed down in the three months ended 30th June, with GDP growth dropping to 0.3% from 0.4% in the prior quarter according to the latest data from Eurostat. Inflation held steady at 0.2%. Whilst Germany’s economy accelerated slightly during the 3 months, France stagnated and recorded no change in GDP.

Kitchen equipment manufacturer AGA Rangemaster (AGA) widened its first half pre-tax loss from £0.3 million last year to £4 million in the current period. The rise is due to restructuring costs linked with Middleby’s takeover and production expenses. Revenues rose by 1.5% to £125.4 million despite a subdued UK market. AGA shares closed at 183.5p.

Miner Afarak (AFRK) has announced that its full year profits will be substantially higher than in the prior period due to improved steel output and higher demand for its chrome products. Second quarter revenues were up by 12.2% to €53.1 million (£37.9 million). Afarak shares ended the day at 32.5p.

US authorities have warned that BP (BP.) could face fresh fines after a judge ruled that the company’s employees had rigged Texa’s natural gas markets following hurricane Ike in 2008. BP said that it would appeal the decision. Shares in the firm sank 3.9p to 379.25p.

Monday’s news today

Bovis Homes (BVS) will publish interim results on Monday.

Quote of the day

“Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward; they may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.”
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe