EUROZONE-GREECE/BRITAIN-STOCK MARKETS London markets down as European shares slide on Greek fears

Record ID: 148905

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/BRITAIN-STOCK MARKETS London markets down as European shares slide on Greek fears
  • Date: 29th June 2015
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (JUNE 29, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TRADERS ON FLOOR OF IG (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARKET ANALYST AT IG, ALASTAIR MCCAIG, SAYING: "So there are a multitude of questions that have arisen on the back of this weekend's exercises and scarce actual answers. When it comes to the markets they do tend to assume the worst and that is why we have seen an aggressiv
  • Embargoed: 14th July 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2OL096UO802N1H3S6QRD6M8B2
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: European shares, including on London markets slipped as Greece's debt crisis deepened, with the FTSE falling 2.9 percent, along with Germany's Dax falling up to 3.8 percent and France's CAC 40 3.6 percent.
    Investors are spooked by the spectre of a Greek debt default which has forced Athens to shut down its banks to prevent a run on deposits.
    "So there are a multitude of questions that have arisen on the back of this weekend's exercises and scarce actual answers. When it comes to the markets they do tend to assume the worst and that is why we have seen an aggressive sell-off in equities this morning," said Alastair McCaig, markets analyst at IG.
    Greece has less than 48 hours to pay back 1.6 billion euros ($1.77 billion) of International Monetary Fund loans, and a default could lead to the country's exit from the euro currency bloc.
    Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has announced a snap referendum on Sunday (July 5) on the terms of a cash-for-reforms deal.
    McCaig said the referendum was likely to be a complicated process.
    "The referendum that they will be holding is a very complicated couple of documents that the average Greek citizen would find, arguably, too complicated to fully understand. And the other thing of course is that the offer that this is in reference to effectively will be taken off the table by the ECB (European Central Bank) and IMF before the referendum has an opportunity to take place," he said.
    McCaig said the ECB could decide to extend its deal with Greece, but that it would be worried that might set a precedent for other struggling euro zone nations.
    "I don't think that we can afford to see the ECB allow Greece to be a template for other nations to follow. If they were to be too flexible in terms of negotiations, fiscally speaking, they might be able to afford it for Greece, that wouldn't necessarily be the case for other nations," he said.
    With the prospect of Greece being forced out of the euro in plain sight, the common currency fell as much as 1.9 percent to $1.0955, its lowest in almost a month. It last stood down 1.3 percent at $1.1020.
    Against the yen, the common currency dropped more than 3 percent to as low as 133.80 yen, a five-week low while it hit a 7 1/2-year low of 0.69885 British pound.
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