(MENAFN- AFP) Europe's main stock markets fell on Tuesday as investors reacted to the fallout from the plunge of the Athens exchange, with focus on the banking sector.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index slipped 0.07 percent to stand at 6,684.09 points in afternoon deals.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 dropped 0.11 percent to 11,431.29 points, and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.32 percent to stand at 5,104.39 compared with Monday's close.
In afternoon Greek trading, the ATHEX index was down 2.04 percent.
It had suffered its steepest ever fall of 16.32 percent on Monday when trading resumed after a five-week shutdown imposed due to the country's debt crisis.
In foreign exchange on Tuesday, the euro rose to $1.0967 from $1.0954 late in New York on Monday.
European stocks had closed mostly higher on Monday, as investors appeared to shrug off the plunge in Athens.
On Tuesday shares in Greek banks continued to fall heavily, with Piraeus dropping to the maximum allowed level of 30 percent for the second day running.
Alpha Bank sank 22.62 percent, while Eurobank and National Bank, fell 29.7 percent and 22.62 percent respectively.
In London, Royal Bank of Scotland rose a slight 0.03 percent to 337.70 pence after Britain's government said it began selling its majority stake in the lender.
Edinburgh-based RBS was rescued with £45.5 billion of public money, the world's biggest banking bailout at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.
The government has sold at a loss 5.4 percent of RBS for £2.1 billion ($3.3 billion, 3.0 billion euros) to reduce state debt and kickstart the lender's full return to the private sector.
The Paris market was hit by the nearly 11 percent plunge in shares of Credit Agricole. The French bank announced Tuesday it had to set aside provisions for possible fines related to a US investigation into payments in dollars to countries under embargo.
On the Frankfurt exchange, German automaker BMW slumped after it said Tuesday that weaker demand from China could weigh on its full-year earnings, as it reported a slight drop in its second-quarter profits.
Its shares were down 1.85 percent at 90.36 euros in afternoon trading.
US equities opened little changed Tuesday as oil prices rallied and the Chinese stock market notched strong gains following new government measures to counter volatility.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.09 percent to 17,613.3 points.
The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.03 percent at 2,098.72, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 0.07 percent to 5,112.02.
Asian stocks closed mixed on Tuesday as China announced new rules restricting short selling after a recent market rout and Australia held interest rates at rock-bottom.
Shanghai jumped 3.69 percent, Tokyo eased 0.14 percent while Hong Kong ended flat and Australia advanced 0.33 percent.
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