European stocks trimmed their weekly gain amid increasing concern that Greece’s efforts to renegotiate its debt and stay in the single currency would fail.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index slipped 0.9 percent to 389.38 at the close of trading, paring its weekly gain to 0.1 percent.
Greece’s ASE Index lost 5.9 percent, for the biggest decline among western European markets, with National Bank of Greece SA and Eurobank Ergasias SA falling more than 10 percent.
Portugal’s PSI 20 Index posted the second-worst performance, with a 1.5 percent drop.
Pressure is mounting on Greece to come up with a solution after the IMF withdrew from talks in Brussels on Thursday, citing “major differences.”
Greece ruled out cutting pensions and demanded debt restructuring. Euro-area officials called for a proposal to stabilize the country’s debt by the end of Friday, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to accept a framework for aid.
Her advisers are already discussing how to deal with a Greek default, Bild newspaper reported.
“I’m beginning to get concerned,” said Henrik Drusebjerg, who helps manage about US$17 billion as chief strategist at Carnegie Investment Bank AB in Copenhagen.
“You’re caught in a dilemma. You can’t seek the bond market for protection. You’re scared for the stock market because of Greece and the Fed, which is closing in on the first rate hike. A lot of investors are very frustrated as to where to place their money,” Drusebjerg said.
Among stocks moving on corporate news on Friday, Zodiac Aerospace plunged 5.4 percent after saying it might not meet this year’s target for operating income.
HORMUZ ISSUE: The US president said he expected crude prices to drop at the end of the war, which he called a ‘minor excursion’ that could continue ‘for a little while’ The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait started reducing oil production, as the near-closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz ripples through energy markets and affects global supply. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is “managing offshore production levels to address storage requirements,” the company said in a statement, without giving details. Kuwait Petroleum Corp said it was lowering production at its oil fields and refineries after “Iranian threats against safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.” The war in the Middle East has all but closed Hormuz, the narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the open seas,
Apple Inc increased iPhone production in India by about 53 percent last year and now makes a quarter of its marquee devices there, reflecting the US company’s efforts to avoid tariffs on China. The company assembled about 55 million iPhones in India last year, up from 36 million a year earlier, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named because the numbers aren’t public. Apple makes about 220 million to 230 million iPhones a year globally, with India’s share of the total increasing rapidly. Apple has accelerated its expansion in the world’s most populous country in recent years, bolstered
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