(MENAFN- AFP) Europe's main stock markets sank heavily Monday, with Athens plunging on fears of a Greek euro exit after talks with creditors collapsed over the weekend.
The Athens stock exchange slumped 7.14 percent to 719.16 points in early deals, one day after last-ditch debt talks failed and raised fresh fears of a Greek default and subsequent exit from the eurozone.
Elsewhere, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index slid 0.61 percent to 6,743.40 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 lost 1.24 percent to 11,057 points and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 1.14 percent to 4,845.80 compared with the closing levels on Friday.
"European stocks are starting out the new trading week on a negative note as ‘last ditch' talks with Greece not unsurprisingly ended once again without a solution or compromise," said analyst Markus Huber at brokerage Peregrine & Black.
"In light of Greece being unwilling or unable to make any concessions at all... it remains doubtful that a solution to avoid a Greek default can be reached."
Negotiations between Greece and its creditors broke down in less than an hour on Sunday, with each side blaming the other's refusal to back down on certain issues.
"They came with their hands in their pockets," a furious EU source close to the negotiations told AFP, while one Greek official described the creditors' demands as "irrational".
With Athens due to repay billions of euros in loans by the end of the month, the latest failure raises the spectre of a default, which could ultimately lead to the country crashing out of the eurozone.
Athens will stand its ground until its creditors become "realistic", Greece's premier said Monday.
"We will wait patiently until the institutions become more realistic," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras wrote in the Ephimarida ton Syndakton daily, adding that "political opportunism" was driving the creditors to keep pressing Athens to make cuts to pensions.
In London on Monday, airlines topped the losers' board on stubborn concern over the impact of a Greek eurozone exit, or Grexit, on the sector.
No-frills carrier EasyJet saw its share price dive 2.46 percent to 1,547 pence, while shares in British Airways owner IAG slid 1.74 percent to 509 pence.
"It's the airlines that are taking the biggest hit right now, with EasyJet and IAG both looking exposed if the eurozone takes a beating off the back of a Grexit," said Trustnet Direct analyst Tony Cross.
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