The FTSE100 is currently down 45.7 point at 5745.3, the FTSE250 is currently down 106.2 points at 9,401.8 and the FTSE Smallcaps is down 4.3 points at 3,437.


Wall Street closed higher for the third day in a row on Friday after a number of economic reports suggested the Federal Reserve will stop increasing interest rates sooner rather than later.

However, some of the data also pointed to a slowdown in US economic growth.


Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei closed down 56.23 points at 15,859.45 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng also closed down 52.89 points at 15,910.88.


Oil prices were higher in early morning trading with the market still concerned about Iran's row with the West over its nuclear programme. Prices were also being pushed up by expectations of strong petrol demand in the US as the country's summer driving season gets under way.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for July delivery was up 38 cents at $71.75 a barrel from its close of $71.37 in the US Friday.


Today’s look at individual Stocks:


The Tobacco sector was hit this morning by a downgrade from Citigroup. The US broker cut its rating for Imperial Tobacco, which is currently down 15p at 1,655p, to hold from buy and Gallaher, down 6p to 837.5p, to sell from hold, saying it was becoming more bearish on the sector following price cuts in Europe.

The broker said that it believes there will be few price rises in the next few years, as price rises are the main reason for investing in tobacco.


The Vodafone Group this morning reported a 12% rise in full-year profit in line with expectations.
The mobile operator said it expects revenue growth of between 5% and 6.5% for the next year, as it raised its dividend by 49% to 6.07p. The UK's biggest mobile operator said pre-tax profits for the year March 31st increased to £8.79 billion from £7.83 billion a year earlier on revenue of £29.3 billion from £26.6 billion.

Vodafone has met or exceeded expectations, outperforming its competitors in an increasingly challenging marketplace. We have restructured the Group and updated our strategy and we will seize the opportunities provided by new technologies to continue delivering innovative services to our customers

Said Vodafone’s CEO, Arun Sarin, in a statement.


The UK-based mobile phone giant handed back an extra £3 billion from the sale of its Japanese subsidiary, in a bid to quell shareholder discontent. In a long-awaited strategy update (CEO Sarin) unveiled a special dividend of some £9 billion, £3 billion higher than the figure announced when it sold its Japanese business earlier this year. Vodafone also signalled a formal end to its strategy of expanding globally, flagging a 'lower level of merger and acquisition activity in the future'.
The group, which is currently under pressure to sell its 45% stake in US operator Verizon Wireless, said it would 'seek to optimise its portfolio of assets, disposing of assets where it believes it cannot earn a superior return'.


Also in the news this morning, BAA stocks rose 54.5p at 875p, taking the stock to the top of the leader board, as Grupo Ferrovial said it has raised its offer for the airports group to 900p per share from a previous 810p. The new bid, which BAA's board has rejected, is open until 1.00 pm on June 19th, Ferrovial said in a statement.



Corus was also helped this morning by news of a consolidation in the steel sector. The stock is currently trading up 6.25p at 392p.