European shares slip again as Greek debt talks stall

European stocks extended a sell-off as the region’s leaders differed on how Greek talks were progressing.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 0.2 per cent to 396.39 at the close of trading. The Greek ASE Index added 0.1 per cent, after swinging between gains and losses at least 11 times.

The need for a deal is growing more urgent as Greece faces both an expiry of its current bailout package and a loan repayment deadline on June 30th.

DUBLIN

The Iseq was down 0.2 per cent, a slightly better performance than its European peers.

Ryanair had another electric day, closing up 0.6 per cent at a new record high of €12.34. The airline has been enjoying a strong week on the back of positive sentiment around its future earnings. Rival airline Aer Lingus also traded up 1.4 per cent, at €2.43, as the IAG takeover deal moved closer to the finish line.

The colossal loss in investor confidence in Swiss-Irish food group Aryzta continued with the share prices falling by another 2.6 per cent to €44.87. It was trading near €76 earlier this year.

Bank of Ireland finished up 1.6 per cent after the courts overturned a ruling that the Financial Services Ombudsman was wrong in rejecting a couple's complaint over alleged excessive interest charging by a bank.

Property group Hibernia Reit also had a good day, closing up nearly 3 per cent.

Packaging group Smurfit Kappa, meanwhile, had a quiet day by its standards closing up 0.1 per cent.

LONDON

Britain’s top equity index slipped from three-week highs reached in the previous session as weaker mining stocks and persistent concerns over Greece’s debt problems weighed on the market.

The benchmark FTSE 100 equity index closed down 0.5 per cent. Miners took most points off the index, with the FTSE 350 mining index falling 1.8 per cent as copper prices lost ground.

Insurance company Admiral fell 1.6 per cent after Citigroup downgraded the stock to "sell" from "neutral".

Software company Sage rose 3.9 per cent to recover from hefty losses in the previous session as Investec Securities raised its rating on the stock.

EUROPE

While the Euro Stoxx 50 Index posted its best four-day gain since 2012 earlier this week on speculation that Greece was close to an agreement, the gauge fluctuated before closing almost unchanged.

Among shares active on corporate news, Hennes and Mauritz fell 3.2 per cent after its quarterly gross margin and profit missed analysts' estimates.

Vallourec tumbled 5.8 per cent after Credit Suisse downgraded the steelmaker to underperform. Altice rallied 6 per cent after a report said Bouygues remains open to a new offer from the company's Numericable-SFR unit.

Petrofac climbed 4.2 per cent after Nomura Holdings recommended buying the shares. The company is heading for its best week since 2010 after saying profit may be heavily weighted toward the second half of the year.

NEW YORK

Healthcare stocks jumped after the US supreme court upheld tax subsidies key to Obamacare while a jump in consumer spending sent the broader US market higher.

Healthcare stocks continue to be attractive because the ruling releases the overhang and investors can focus on the operations of these companies, Oppenheimer analyst Michael Wiederhorn said.

UnitedHealth Group rose as much as 2.5 per cent and was the biggest boost to the Dow. Among hospitals, shares of Community Health Systems were up 9.3 per cent, while shares of HCA Holdings rose 8.6 per cent and Tenet Healthcare jumped 12 per cent.

Early on, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.22 per cent, the S&P 500 was up 0.26 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.3 per cent.