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Britain’s top share index slipped to trade near a three-month low on Monday, in line with a broad sell-off in European equities, after Greece failed again to reach a deal with its creditors and moved closer to defaulting on its debts.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was down 0.6 per cent at 6,747.90 points by 0749 GMT, extending the previous session’s losses of 0.9 per cent. It has lost 5 per cent in two weeks, also on the prospect that the US Federal Reserve could begin a cycle of rate hikes from as early as September.
Financial stocks were among the top decliners, with the UK banking index falling 0.6 per cent.
Julia Kloeckner, a senior official in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats, said Greece was gambling too far and the patience of its creditors was running out.
“Are we approaching the end-game? It looks highly likely this time around. Greece has been a handy reason to clear out of stocks over the past few weeks, with Fed-related jumpiness also playing its part,’’ IG analyst Chris Beauchamp said.
Collapse of Greece debt talks
Talks on ending a deadlock between Greece and its creditors broke up in failure on Sunday, with European leaders venting their frustration as Athens stumbled closer towards a debt default that threatens its future in the euro.
European Union officials blamed the collapse on Athens, saying it had failed to offer anything new to secure the funding it needs to repay €1.6 billion ($1.8 billion) to the International Monetary Fund by the end of this month.
Among individual sharp movers, easyJet fell 2.6 per cent, the top decliner in the FTSE 100 index, after RBC cut its stance on the stock to “underperform’’ from “outperform.’
“Our positive outlook for easyJet’s summer has proved incorrect ... As summer is key, we see few positive catalysts until mid-2016 while easyJet faces a winter squeeze,’’ RBC analysts said in a note.
Dragon Oil rose 8 per cent after the Turkmenistan-focused oil explorer said it had agreed improved takeover terms with Emirates National Oil Co (ENOC), which increased its offer to buy out the minority shareholders. Dragon Oil said ENOC had increased its offer to 750 pence in cash per share, valuing the business at around £3.7 billion.
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