World stocks drift as Greek bailout clears eurozone hurdle
Source: AP
LONDON (AP) — Global stock markets have started the week on a fairly flat note as the Chinese currency steadies and the Greek bailout cleared another big hurdle.
KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.3 percent at 6,529 while Germany's DAX fell 0.3 percent to 10,948. The CAC-40 in France bucked the trend, trading 0.1 percent higher. Wall Street was headed for a subdued open, with both Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures down 0.2 percent.
GREEK CRISIS: Greece cleared a big hurdle late Friday when eurozone finance ministers the country's 86 billion-euro ($93 billion) bailout program. A few parliaments have to approve the deal before Greece can get its hands on the 26 billion euros ($29 billion) tranche of money that will allow it to make a big repayment due to the European Central Bank on Thursday. While the bailout appears to be going smoothly, the Greek government is facing some difficulty after many of its lawmakers failed to back the bailout in a parliamentary vote. That's raised the prospect of a confidence vote in the government and early elections as soon as next month.
ANALYST TAKE: "Given the market-moving power of Greece in the first half of 2015, investors clearly aren't as fussed about the issue as they once were, with fears over China's next move outweighing the positive progress found on the continent," said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.
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