Greek debt woes weigh on European indices

Eurostoxx 50: 2,731.50 (–48.44) Frankfurt DAX: 7,115.08 (–89.17) Paris CAC: 3,806.85 (–57.73)EUROPEAN STOCKS fell yesterday, for the first time this week amid concern that divisions between European officials may delay a second rescue plan for Greece.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 1 per cent to 268.06 in London. The gauge fell 7.9 per cent from this year’s high as speculation grew that Greece might default on its debt.

“If history is any guide, the current sovereign debt problems will not get resolved in a clean way any time soon,” said Anthony Morris, a strategist at Nomura Holdings in London.

“It will take time for the Greek government to implement reforms. It will take time for the reforms to have an effect. It will take time for creditors to build up a sufficient capital cushion so that they can write down their exposure, which they will ultimately have to do,” he said.

An emergency session of finance ministers in Brussels on Tuesday failed to reconcile a German-led push for bondholders to shoulder part of the cost of a new Greek aid package with European Central Bank warnings backed by France that the move might constitute the euro area’s first sovereign default.

National Bank of Greece, the nation’s biggest lender, retreated 6 per cent to €4.57.

BNP Paribas fell 2.5 per cent to €51.29, Société Générale lost 2.7 per cent to €38.73 and Credit Agricole slid 2.5 per cent to €9.91.

Moody’s placed the three banks’ ratings on review that will focus on their holdings of Greek public and private debt.

Banco Santander, Europe’s second-largest bank, fell 3 per cent to €7.62 as the Spanish central bank called for Spain’s 17 regions to help control public finances.

Hennes and Mauritz slid 2.4 per cent to 218.30 kronor. The retailer said sales at stores open at least a year rose 2 per cent in May.

Experian dropped 1.9 per cent to 785.5p as the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was said to be likely to place the world’s largest credit-checking company under direct supervision by federal examiners.

Gas Natural rose 3.2 per cent to €13.75 after agreeing to pay Sonatrach $1.9 billion to settle a dispute and saying the Algerian natural gas company may take a stake in its Spanish distributor. – (Bloomberg)