Morning Markets: Fresh Greece fears check FTSE progress

The FTSE was modestly lower in early Thursday trade following reports Greece may yet seek financial aid from the IMF because of disillusionment over the prospects of help from the EU.

Positive employment news sent the index spinning to a 21-month closing high yesterday but the FTSE lost more than 24 points on opening before recovering slightly. By 8.45am, it was 8 points, or 0.14%, down at 5,636.

Quoting an unidentified senior Greek official, newswires said the government was not hopeful of help from EU partners at a summit next week.

Royal Bank of Scotland fell 1.3% to 43p while miners also suffered following recent gains. Eurasian Natural Resources and Antofagasta both lost more than 1%.

Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline added 32p, or 2.61%, to £12.56 to lead the early winners.

Japanese stocks dropped the most in two weeks after Morgan Stanley lowered its view on the nation's real-estate industry and the euro weakened against the yen. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1% to close at 10,744.03 in Tokyo.

US markets hit 17-month highs following a seven-day rally on Dow Jones. The index closed up 0.5% at 10,734 and has now gained 1.7% in the past seven trading sessions.