Europe bags fall stricken Greece and Spain – The Economist

The main European stock markets ended the day on Monday with losses Ball Greece leading the losses due to concerns about progress in their negotiations and elections in Spain.

European shares fell on Monday, with falls in stock in Athens and Madrid amid concerns of investors about the problems of Greek debt and the poor results of the Spanish ruling party in elections this weekend.

The volumes traded on European stock markets were lower as equity markets in London, New York and Frankfurt were closed on Monday for holidays.

The ATG benchmark stock index Athens lost 3.10 percent. On Monday, the Greek government said it did want to meet their debt obligations but that it needed help urgently.

The ATG index has declined by 1.50% since the beginning of 2015, with lower performance to other stock markets in Europe.

In Spain, the Ibex-35 fell 2.00 percent. The market absorbed the results of municipal and regional elections, in which the Popular Party (PP) of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was severely strained after four years of deep cuts in spending and a series of corruption scandals.

Most investors believe that Greece will continue within the euro area and interest rates at record lows and other monetary stimuli of the European Central Bank have enabled European stock markets recover this year, despite the uncertainty surrounding Greece.

The decline in European equity markets also reflected the losses on Wall Street on Friday after the Federal Reserve president Janet Yellen suggested a potential upside interest rates before year-end.

Yellen said delaying a tightening of monetary policy until employment and inflation reach established goals kept the economy at risk of overheating.

The French CAC-40 index fell 0.50%, while the Italian FTSE MIB lost 2.10%, weighed by losses of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which fell 3.10 percent.

A report New York Times said that in March the head of General Motors, Mary Barra, rejected the proposal of the chief executive of Fiat, Sergio Marchionne, to combine automotive.

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