By Carla Mozee and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
U.K. stocks erased earlier gains on Wednesday amid a wider
selloff in European equities, sparked by lingering concerns about
Greece's future in the eurozone.
The FTSE 100 lost 0.7% to 7,017.22, after trading as high as
7,092.34 earlier in the session. An upbeat session in Asia had at
first inspired European stocks to climb for a third straight day,
but with no catalysts to drive markets higher, traders took on a
more cautious approach mid-morning.
One key concern is Greece, where the government is still
struggling to reach a reform deal with its international lenders
before running out of money and potentially defaulting on some of
its loans. Read: Charts show current version of Greek crisis
nothing like 2012, so far
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/charts-show-current-version-of-greek-crisis-nothing-like-2012-so-far-2015-04-21)
Tesco earnings: In the U.K., the latest earnings report from
Tesco PLC (TSCDY) was a focus. Shares of the supermarket chain
dropped 1.3% after Tesco posted its biggest ever full-year loss
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tesco-posts-biggest-ever-loss-after-turbulent-year-2015-04-22),
swinging to a pretax loss of 6.38 billion pounds ($9.54 billion)
for the year to Feb. 28. After a turbulent year that revealed a
pattern of accounting overstatement, Tesco logged GBP7 billion in
charges, including GBP4.7 billion related to the impairment of
fixed assets.
Tesco's new chief executive, Dave Lewis, has been making changes
at the supermarket company, including closing unprofitable stores
and selling noncore assets.
"While Tesco looks like it's on a downward spiral with another
major dip in trading profits, its planned recovery strategy
promises to steer the retailer back on course," said Simon
Johnstone, senior analyst at Kantar Retail, in a note. "A
three-pronged attack to improve performance is centered on
strengthening the balance sheet, repairing its reputation and
rebuilding the brand."
Other movers: Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC said Warren
East will become its next CEO after its current CEO John Rishton
retires on July 2. East previously served as CEO of chip designer
ARM Holdings PLC . Rolls-Royce shares jumped 3.3%, while ARM shares
turned lower, by 0.5%.
Among other decliners, shares of Hargreaves Lansdown PLC fell
3.9% after Jefferies downgraded its rating on the investment
services firm to hold from buy.
BOE minutes: The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee
voted unanimously to keep
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/boe-panel-unanimous-on-rates-see-lift-from-europe-2015-04-22)its
benchmark interest rate at a record low of 0.5% at its meeting
earlier in April, minutes out on Wednesday showed. However, two
officials said the call not to raise rates was "finely
balanced".
The FTSE 100 on Tuesday
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-climbs-as-arm-sky-bounce-higher-2015-04-21)
finished higher by 0.2%.
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