By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
Greece's Athex Composite heads for lowest close since Sept.
2012
European stock markets dropped for the first time in three days
on Wednesday, weighed by lingering concerns about Greece's bailout
negotiations and disappointing earnings results.
The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 0.4% to 407.43,
after closing at the seventh-highest level this year on
Tuesday.
Greece woes: Greece's Athex Composite Index underperformed most
of Europe, trading 1.4% lower at 695.12 and heading for its lowest
close in two-and-a-half years. Investors were nervous about
Athens's lack of progress in hammering out a reform deal with its
international lenders, which is a prerequisite for Greece receiving
the next tranche of bailout money.
The country is at risk of running out of cash in May, unless
more money is disbursed from its creditors. If no agreement is
reached, Greece could struggle to repay upcoming loans to the
International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank,
essentially setting it on a course for a default and a possible
exit from the eurozone. Read: Charts show current version of Greek
crisis nothing like 2012, so far
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/charts-show-current-version-of-greek-crisis-nothing-like-2012-so-far-2015-04-21)
The Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers meets on Friday, but
hopes are low that a deal will be reached this time. The head of
the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said on Tuesday he expects
Athens and the lenders to reach an agreement in coming weeks
(http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/21/eurozone-greece-dijsselbloem-idUSL5N0XI3IC20150421).
Other markets: Germany's DAX 30 index dipped 0.6% to 11,866.70,
while France's CAC 40 index fell 0.4% to 5,171.32.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index
(http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid) lost 0.5% to
7,027.87. The index stayed lower after minutes from the Bank of
England's Monetary Policy Committee's April meeting showed all nine
members voted to keep the benchmark interest rate at 0.5%
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/boe-panel-unanimous-on-rates-see-lift-from-europe-2015-04-22),
although for two officials the decision was "finely balanced".
Movers and shakers: Shares of Kering SA slid 6.3% after the
luxury-goods company late Tuesday reported a 7.9% slide
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kering-says-overhauling-gucci-is-2015-priority-2015-04-21)
in sales at its flagship Gucci brand in the first quarter.
Another high-end retailer, Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA ,
dropped 1.1% after it issued a profit warning
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/richemont-warns-on-profit-after-forex-positioning-2015-04-22),
saying its full-year earnings would fall by more than one-third due
to losses on hedging contracts it bought to tackle currency
fluctuations.
Shares of Tesco PLC (TSCDY) lost 1.1% after the U.K. supermarket
chain posted its biggest ever full-year loss
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tesco-posts-biggest-ever-loss-after-turbulent-year-2015-04-22).
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