British FTSE 100 edges higher on Monday

FTSE 100 Index, the British benchmark stock market gauge, Monday edged up by 0.20 percent, or 13.61 points, to 6,788.69 points.

Greek banks reopened on Monday after a three-week holiday introduced to avert a collapse of the banking system amidst fears of an imminent default and Grexit. But capital controls remain in place and new VAT increases came into effect as of Monday under the recent agreement.

Late on the same day, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Greece has repaid the totality of its arrears to the organization, equivalent to around 2.0 billion euro (or 2.17 billion U.S. dollars). Greece is therefore no longer in arrears to the IMF.

Sports Direct International's share price increased by 3.41 percent, topping the gainers of the blue chips.

Prices of TUI AG, easyJet, Kingfisher and ARM Holdings advanced by 1.81 percent, 1.35 percent, 1.22 percent and 1.18 percent respectively.

Randgold Resources led the top losers of the blue chips with a share price drop of 4.67 percent, followed by Fresinillo (4.41 percent), Meggitt (1.99 percent), Inmarsat (1.58 percent) and Pearson (1.57 percent).

Trading volume in FTSE 100 companies was around 40 percent smaller than the 30-day average. And the index has gained 5.71 percent so far this year. Endit