Europe: Stocks open lower as IMF halts Greek talks

[LONDON] Europe's main stock markets fell at the start of trading on Friday, one day after the IMF walked out of Greece's bailout reform talks.

In opening trade, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index slid 0.48 per cent to 6,814.16 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 dropped 0.41 per cent to 11,286.56 points and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.18 per cent to 4,962.22 compared with the closing levels on Thursday.

"European equities are trading moderately lower this morning after yesterday's rally had come to an abrupt halt on the back of reports that the IMF has halted negotiations with Greece due to a lack of progress," said analyst Markus Huber at brokerage Peregrine & Black.

"However the fallout ... has been limited by the release of solid US economic data pointing towards a strong rebound in economic growth." Greece's creditors piled pressure on cash-strapped Athens on Thursday as the IMF pulled its team out of talks and the EU warned Athens to stop gambling with the possibility of default and a messy exit from the eurozone.

The International Monetary Fund said an agreement remained far-off after a five-month stalemate with Greece's anti-austerity government, which faces the prospect of defaulting on huge debts at the end of the month.

AFP