(MENAFN- AFP) European stocks sank on Monday, with Athens plunging by over seven percent at one stage and Germany's main index at a four-month low, after weekend talks between Greece and its creditors collapsed sparking fresh fears of a Greek default.
Greece's benchmark Athex index ended the day down 4.68 percent at 738.25 points, with Greek banking shares especially hard hit.
In Europe's main markets Frankfurt's DAX 30 index slumped 1.89 percent to 10,984,97 points, sinking below the 11,000 mark for the first time since late February,
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies closed down 1.10 percent at 6,710.52 points, and in Paris the CAC 40 dropped 1.75 percent to 4,815.36 points compared with Friday's close.
"The markets were awash with red... as investors continued to deal with the aftermath of the weekend's most recent Greek-deal collapse," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.
Kash Kamal, research analyst at Sucden Financial, added that "the threat of a Greek default and probability of a Greek exit from the euro became increasingly likely possibilities."
In foreign exchange, the euro slid to $1.1248 from $1.1260 late on Friday in New York.
- 'Not a one-way street' -
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.
On Monday, the EU pressed Greece to match major concessions made by its international creditors.
"It's not a one-way street," European Commission spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt told a press conference after saying the EU-IMF creditors have made "major concessions" to the left-wing government in Athens.
"The concessions ... made and the flexibility that has been shown are already quite substantial," she added.
The EU executive also said Greece has agreed to budget targets for 2015, but then asked "how credible the commitments are" to achieve them.
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.
-- 'Go the extra mile' -
European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi Monday urged all sides "to go the extra mile" but insisted the ball was in Athens' court.
"A strong and credible agreement with Greece is needed, not only in the interest of Greece, but also of the euro area as a whole," Draghi told the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs in Brussels.
Draghi also said Greece's major banks were currently solvent and the ECB will continue to provide liquidity to them to help finance the economy.
In Athens, a defiant Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Greece would "wait patiently" until its creditors -- the International Monetary Fund and the European Union -- become "more realistic".
He lambasted the creditors for "political opportunism" in trying to force Athens to make further cuts to its pension system, a concession the leftist anti-austerity government has steadfastly refused to make.
At the same time, Athens made it clear that it is ready to return to EU-IMF negotiations "at any time" the prime minister's office said.
US stocks also fell Monday on worries about a potential Greek debt default.
Around mid-day in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.86 percent to 17,780.79 points.
The broad-based S&P 500 slid 0.44 percent to 2,084.94 points, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.57 percent to 5,022.38.
Most Asian stocks closed lower Monday on the impasse in Greek debt talks with Shanghai sinking 2.00 percent, Hong Kong 1.53 percent, Sydney 0.12 percent and Seoul 0.48 percent.
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