European stocks sink as Greek talks collapse
European stocks sank on Monday, with Athens plunging by more than seven percent at one stage, after weekend talks between Greece and its creditors collapsed sparking fresh fears of a Greek euro exit.
In afternoon deals, Greece’s benchmark ATHEX index slumped 5.12 percent at 734.80 points, with Greek banking shares especially hard hit.
In Europe’s main markets, London’s FTSE 100 index shed 0.89 percent to 6,724.29 points in afternoon deals.
Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index plunged 1.93 percent to 10,980.05 points and the CAC 40 in Paris dived 1.86 percent to 4,810.09 from Friday’s close.
“The markets were awash with red… as investors continued to deal with the aftermath of the weekend’s most recent Greek-deal collapse,” said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.
In foreign exchange, the euro fell to $1.1230 from $1.1260 late on Friday in New York.
“Anxiety is turning to panic as a Greek default becomes a distinct possibility,” added dealer Davide Ugolini at trading firm CurrenciesDirect.
Negotiations between Greece and its creditors broke down in less than an hour on Sunday, with each side blaming the other’s refusal to back down on certain issues.
“They came with their hands in their pockets,” a furious EU source close to the negotiations told AFP, while one Greek official described the creditors’ demands as “irrational”.
On Monday, the EU pressed Greece to match major concessions made by its international creditors.
“It’s not a one-way street,” European Commission spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt told a press conference after saying the EU-IMF creditors have made “major concessions” to the left-wing government in Athens.
“The concessions … made and the flexibility that has been shown are already quite substantial,” she added.
The EU executive also said Greece has agreed to budget targets for 2015, but then asked “how credible the commitments are” to achieve them.
With Athens due to repay billions of euros in loans by the end of the month, the latest failure raises the spectre of a default, which could ultimately lead to the country crashing out of the eurozone.
The failed weekend talks with creditors hammered Greek banking shares Monday. Piraeus Bank nosedived 11.02 percent, Alpha fell 5.56 percent, National Bank of Greece dropped 11.43 percent and Eurobank lost 5.34 percent.
A defiant Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Greece would “wait patiently” until its creditors — the International Monetary Fund and the European Union — become “more realistic.”
He lambasted the creditors for “political opportunism” in trying to force Athens to make further cuts to its pension system, a concession the leftist anti-austerity government has steadfastly refused to make.
At the same time, Athens made it clear that it is ready to return to EU-IMF negotiations “at any time” the prime minister’s office said.
US stocks opened lower Monday on worries about a potential Greek debt default.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.05 percent to 17,710.23 points.
The broad-based S&P 500 sank 0.93 percent to 2,074.66 points, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.07 percent to 4,996.86
[AP]
