London - AFP
Europe\'s main stock markets fell Thursday after a weak performance in Asia and overnight on Wall Street as investors ditched risky assets amid growing confusion and concern over a new Greek debt bailout. In late morning deals, London\'s FTSE 100 shed 0.75 percent to 5,848.95 points, the Paris CAC 40 slid 0.69 percent to 3,367.17 points and Frankfurt\'s DAX 30 dropped 1.20 percent to 6,676.67 points. The single currency meanwhile eased to $1.3006, compared with $1.3065 in New York late Wednesday. \"Yet more confusion surrounding Greece sent both stocks and the euro lower ... as investors downsized the amount of risky assets they hold in their portfolios,\" said City Index analyst Joshua Raymond. Greece rushed on Thursday to finalise a debt rescue to avert bankruptcy, under orders from the eurozone that it must accept oversight on every detail in return for more bailout funds. European Union officials made clear they were stepping up surveillance of Greek state revenues and expenditure, with early elections in April a cause for doubt about how reforms will be carried through. Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said Wednesday that a teleconference by eurozone ministers had \"clarified\" how to plug a 325-million-euro hole in Greece\'s 2012 budget and that remaining issues would be worked out by Monday. Greece desperately needs the rescue package of 130 billion euros in fresh loans and a 100-billion-euro write down on privately-held government bonds to avoid defaulting on nearly 14.5 billion euros in debt owed on March 20. Eurogroup president Jean-Claude Juncker said he was confident his colleagues could take all the necessary decisions on Monday when they next meet face-to-face in Brussels. \"Yet again, markets have been fooled by a false dawn when it comes down to the Greek debt crisis,\" said research director Kathleen Brooks at trading site Forex.com. \"Earlier this week, risk was tentatively back on after it was thought that Athens had done enough to guarantee the release of its bailout funds. \"Then the Eurogroup meeting that was supposed to rubber stamp the deal ended up being a 3.5-hour battle-of-the-wills via teleconference, with both the Greeks and the Europeans refusing to negotiate,\" Brooks said. \"The final decision on whether Greece gets its next bailout will now be made on Monday,\" she added. Wall Street ended in the red on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.76 percent after minutes from the Federal Reserve\'s last policy board meeting suggested a low level of enthusiasm for more stimulus measures. Investor sentiment took another hit after Moody\'s announced Thursday that it was reviewing some 114 European banks and financial groups, including many top firms, for a possible ratings downgrade because of the eurozone debt crisis. \"Disheartening news from both sides of the pond impacted sentiment and coloured the European exchanges red,\" said analyst Anita Paluch at Gekko Global Markets. \"After the (Fed) minutes announcing the disappointing plan not to implement easing monetary policy, share prices plunged as investors were expecting more liquidity. \"Moody\'s warning to downgrade several global and over a hundred European financial institutions impacted by the still not contained European debt crisis added another insult to injury and dented the confidence in the markets.\" Asian markets fell Thursday, tracking US losses as investors took profits and doubts grew over Greece. Following a regional rally on Wednesday, Sydney lost 1.68 percent, Tokyo fell 0.24 percent lower and Hong Kong shed 0.41 percent.