European Markets Dropped On Continued Greek Concerns

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Tuesday's session solidly in negative territory. Investor concerns over the situation in Greece continued to weigh on the markets. Weakness in European government bonds also played a role in the decline. Yields climbed as prices fell due to the sell-off in bonds.

A Greek central bank official told Reuters the country had to empty an emergency International Monetary Fund holding account to repay 750 million euros due to the international lender.

Reuters said the move allowed Greece to avoid default but underscores the dire state of the country's finances as it continues to try to strike a deal with its creditors.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told reporters the financial situation of the country is a terribly urgent issue. "We are talking about the next couple of weeks."

Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem welcomed the progress in Greece talks but he said more time is needed to bridge the remaining gaps and to reach a comprehensive agreement.

"We will continue to monitor the situation and we stand ready to meet as soon as the institutions confirm that there is a basis for a successful conclusion," Dijsselbloem said in a statement on Monday in Brussels after the meeting of Eurozone finance ministers.

"There are time constraints and liquidity constraints, hopefully we will reach an agreement before time runs out and before money runs out," he said.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased by 1.42 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 1.31 percent.

The DAX of Germany dropped by 1.72 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell by 1.06 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. declined by 1.37 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.79 percent.

In Frankfurt, potash maker K+S declined by 5.80 percent. The company reported first-quarter results today.

Deutsche Post dropped by 4.57 percent. The logistics firm reported a lower quarterly profit.

ThyssenKrupp climbed by 2.98 percent. The steel maker lifted its forecast for full-year adjusted operating profit.

Biotechnology firm Evotec gained 2.24 percent. The company lifted its revenue forecast for the year.

Volkswagen finished lower by 2.82 percent. Daimler declined by 2.79 percent and BMW lost 2.88 percent.

In Paris, Peugeot dropped by 1.80 percent and Renault fell by 2.18 percent.

In London, easyJet plunged by 9.77 percent. The airline expects revenue per seat in constant currency for the second half to decrease by low single digit percentage points. International Consolidated Airlines Group also dropped by 2.57 percent.

Experian climbed by 3.14 percent, after its full year report.

German business insolvencies continued to decline in February, the Federal Statistical Office said Tuesday. Local courts reported 1,879 business insolvencies in February, down 8.2 percent from last year. The last annual increase was reported in December 2014, when it rose 8.1 percent.

The French economy will grow 0.3 percent in the second quarter, according to the monthly index of business activity released by the Bank of France.

U.K. industrial production unexpectedly grew in March for a second straight month, led by a robust gain in oil and gas extraction and stronger manufacturing output, giving some respite from concerns of a slowdown in the economic growth momentum.

Industrial production rose 0.5 percent from February, when it edged up 0.1 percent, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed Tuesday. Economists had forecast stagnation for the month. The latest growth rate was the strongest since September last year, when production grew 0.6 percent.

UK economic growth quickened in the three months to April from the March quarter, monthly gross domestic product estimates from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research showed Tuesday.

Output grew by 0.4 percent in the three months ending in April after growth of 0.3 percent in the three months to March.

"We expect the slight softening of GDP growth experienced in the first quarter of this year to be temporary and forecast the UK economy will expand by 2.5 per cent for the year as a whole," the think tank said.