Worldwide markets fall on Greek result

Equity markets around the world fell and US oil prices tumbled 6 per cent yesterday after Greece overwhelmingly voted against conditions for a rescue package and on unprecedented measures in China to staunch massive recent losses in its stock markets.

DUBLIN

Dublin’s Iseq index closed down 1.5 per cent at 6,139.97 “on very light volumes” yesterday. One analyst said “a lot of people were sitting on their hands waiting to see what will happen in Greece.”

He said volumes were well below average, adding that rising stocks were “few and far between”.

CPL increased 1.8 per cent to finish at €5.65, while Dalata Hotel Group rose 1.2 per cent to €3.95. Kerry Group ended the day 0.87 per cent lower at €66.18 and Smurfit Kappa declined 2.05 per cent to €25.23.

Providence Resources climbed 3.2 per cent to 32 cents. The exploration company yesterday announced it had acquired Atlantic Petroleum's 4 per cent stake in a licence located off the southwest coast of Ireland.

LONDON

UK equities declined along with European peers after Greek voters rejected creditors’ austerity demands.

Rolls-Royce fell 6.3 per cent to its lowest since October after cutting its full-year profit guidance and halting a share buyback to preserve cash.

The company cited weakness in oil and gas markets and lower demand in parts of its aircraft business.

Royal Mail was one of the strongest performers on the leaderboard, lifting 5.5p to 510.5p after an analyst upgrade from Goldman Sachs.

Banking and financial shares also fell, with Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays retreating at least 1.6 per cent.

The FTSE 100 Index slid 0.8 per cent to 6,535.68 at the close in London, extending last week’s decline of 2.5 per cent.

EUROPE

Top euro zone shares fell about 2 per cent on Monday, a relatively muted reaction to Greek voters’ rejection of austerity terms for a financial lifeline.

However, European banks slumped to their lowest in four months, erasing more than €36 billion in market value, after Greek voters spurned their creditors’ conditions for keeping the country from financial collapse.

The Stoxx 600 Banks Index fell as much as 3 per cent, touching the lowest level since March 10.

Italy's Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena tumbled 12 per cent, while Portugal's Banco Comercial Portugues lost 7 per cent. National Bank of Greece declined 12 per cent.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped 1.2 per cent to 378.68 points. France’s Cac 40 fell 2 per cent, while Germany’s Dax was down 1.5 per cent.

NEW YORK

US stocks were lower in early afternoon trading, but were well off their lows earlier on Monday as investors remained optimistic that a deal could be reached to prevent Greece’s exit from the euro zone.

Health insurer Aetna fell 7.3 per cent to $116.40 in early trading, after it said it would buy smaller rival Humana for about $37 billion. Humana rose 2 per cent to $191.38.

The deal is expected to face rigorous antitrust scrutiny, which could also make other large-scale mergers in the sector more difficult.

Chevron's shares dropped as much as 1.5 per cent to $94.48 in early trading, its lowest since November 2011.

Transocean and ConocoPhillips fell more than 2.5 per cent as West Texas Intermediate crude lost 6 per cent.

Weight Watchers soared 17.6 per cent to $4.81 after the New York Post reported that an activist hedge fund was in talks with potential partners to buy the company.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.7 per cent to 2,063.36 at 1.53pm in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.5 per cent, to 17,646.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 0.7 per cent. – Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters