ROME: European stocks opened lower on Thursday, as ongoing concerns over the lack of progress in Greek debt negotiations weighed on equity markets.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 lost 0.50%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.63%, while Germany’s DAX 30 dropped 0.56%.
European equities weakened as as a deadlock between Greece and its international lenders continued ahead of the approaching deadline for Greece’s repayments to the International Monetary Fund.
Europe wants Greece to make spending cuts in order to secure a deal that will unlock €7.2 billion in bailout funds and prevent Athens defaulting on its debts when its bailout expires at the end of the month.
But Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras stuck to a hard line on Wednesday, reiterating that further cuts cannot be made.
European finance ministers were to hold talks in Brussels later Thursday, but expectations for a deal were not high.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) slid 0.36% and 0.43%, while Germany’s Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) declined 0.38% and 0.96%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) lost 0.29% and 0.61% respectively, while Spanish bank BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) dropped 0.84%.
Elsewhere, Bilfinger SE (XETRA:GBFG) plunged 8.69% after the German engineering group said a review revealed substantial losses at its power business and that it plans to sell the unit within a year.
In London, FTSE 100 slipped 0.26%, led by Severn Trent Plc (LONDON:SVT), whose shares plummeted 2.76% after the water company bought back 32,312 ordinary shares at £21.1410 apiece on Wednesday to be held in treasury.
