By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Greece submits loan-extension request
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks dropped Thursday, with
energy shares under pressure as oil prices tanked on an
unexpectedly strong surge in supplies.
But the markets benchmark also came off its lows on reports
Greece has formally asked for a loan extension.
The Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.3% to 379.25. The oil and gas
group lost nearly 2% as crude-oil futures (CLH5)fell more than 4%,
to below $50 a barrel. The slide came after data released late
Wednesday showed weekly U.S. crude supplies jumped 14.3 million
barrels, according to the American Petroleum Institute. Analysts
polled by Platts had forecast an increase of 3.1 million barrels
for the week.
Among the energy-related stocks trading at the bottom of the
Stoxx 600, deepwater driller Seadrill Ltd. dropped 4.5%,
exploration and production company Premier Oil PLC fell 2.9% and
Norway's Statoil ASA lost 2%.
Shares of oil producer Tullow Oil PLC were down 2.6%, a move
that also weighed on the U.K.'s FTSE 100, which lost 0.3% to
6,876.13. A 7.9% fall in Centrica PLC shares also hurt the British
benchmark, after a downbeat financial update from the parent
company of British Gas.
On the other major European benchmarks, Germany's DAX (DAX) shed
0.2% to 10,941.81, and France's CAC was down 0.2% to 4,791.31.
Greece's Athex Composite outperformed the broader market as it
rose 1.1% to 856.79. The index held its gain after reports that
Greece has submitted a request for an extension to its current loan
from its European creditors, confirmed by Eurogroup President
Jeroen Dijsselbloem in a post to Twitter.
Gains for the euro (EURUSD) accelerated after the news, trading
at $1.1436, compared with $1.1398 late Wednesday.
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said talks with
creditors are showing signs of progress. "We are on the right
track, the consultations show all the signs of an agreement,"
Varoufakis said on Wednesday. "If the climate holds, on Thursday we
will have a positive outcome at a technical level, and by Friday, a
formal approval of the Greek position."
The European Central Bank on Wednesday approved funding of
EUR68.3 billion ($77.8 billion) to Greece's banks through an
emergency credit facility
Greek banking stocks traded higher, with Eurobank Ergasias SA
and Piraeus Bank SA each up 2.5%.
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