European stocks extended a selloff as the region’s leaders differed on how Greek talks were progressing.
The Stoxx Europe 600
Index lost 0.2 percent to 396.39 at the close of trading. French
President Francois Hollande held out hope of a deal for Greece, while
his German counterpart said negotiations looked to be going backward.
The Greek ASE Index added 0.1 percent, after swinging between gains and
losses at least 11 times.
Stocks rose as much as
0.5 percent earlier, reversing a drop of 0.8 percent, after creditor
institutions unanimously agreed on a set of proposals for finance
ministers to review. They pared gains as Greece disagreed. Euro-area
finance ministers are now weighing competing proposals to resolve the
standoff, with Greece facing both an expiry of its current bailout
package and a loan repayment deadline on June 30.
News flow from the
negotiations has whipsawed stocks in recent days. While the Euro Stoxx
50 Index posted its best four-day gain since 2012 earlier this week on
speculation Greece was close to an agreement, it fell yesterday as the
optimism faded. The gauge fluctuated before closing almost unchanged
Thursday.
Among shares active on
corporate news, Hennes & Mauritz AB fell 3.2 percent after its
quarterly gross margin and profit missed analysts’ estimates. Vallourec
SA tumbled 5.8 percent after Credit Suisse Group AG downgraded the
steelmaker to underperform, similar to sell.
Tesco Plc rose 0.9
percent as people familiar with the matter said it has received bids for
its South Korean unit from private-equity firms including Carlyle Group
LP and KKR & Co. Altice SA rallied 6 percent after a report said
Bouygues SA remains open to a new offer from the company’s
Numericable-SFR unit.
Petrofac Ltd. climbed
4.2 percent after Nomura Holdings Inc. recommended buying the shares,
citing potential for shareholder returns. The company is heading for its
best week since 2010 after saying profit may be heavily weighted toward
the second half of the year.
Source : Bloomberg
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