European Stocks Fall After Greece Referendum

(RTTNews) - The European markets fell on Monday, but there was no panic selling in response to the Greek people's overwhelming 'No' vote rejecting proposals by international creditors in Sunday's referendum. The euro stabilized against the U.S. dollar after Yanis Varoufakis, Greece's outspoken minister of finance, abruptly resigned this morning.

The ECB's policymaking governing council will hold a conference call today to consider whether to continue providing emergency funding for Greek banks. Eurozone nations will hold an emergency summit on Tuesday to discuss the Greek referendum result.

While Greece and its international creditors are expected to try to restart negotiations on a new bailout agreement, the ECB's response would be crucial in determining the extent of contagion.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index is currently down about 0.9 percent, while the German DAX is down 1.3 percent, France's CAC 40 index is losing 1.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 is posting a modest 0.3 percent loss.

Banks are bearing the brunt of the selling as the fallout from the Greek 'No' vote begins to unfold. German lenders Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank are down about 3 percent each, French lender BNP Paribas is losing 2.6 percent and British lender Barclays is down 1.5 percent.

Utility RWE is moving down 1.2 percent in Frankfurt on a report it is considering a restructuring of units to reduce costs.

Shares of Deutsche Post are up nearly 3 percent. The postal operator reached a deal with trade union Verdi over pay and working conditions.

Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc shares are tumbling almost 9 percent in London after the company cut its full-year profit guidance and scrapped its first ever share buyback program.

Low-cost airline EasyJet Plc is rising 0.4 after posting improved traffic figures for June.

In economic releases, German factory orders fell 0.2 percent in May from the previous month, in contrast to a 2.2 percent climb in April, which was revised up from a 1.4 percent growth, preliminary figures from Destatis showed. Economists had expected a 0.4 percent drop for the month.

Eurozone investor confidence improved from a four-month low despite the Greek debt crisis, survey data from think tank Sentix showed. The investor confidence index rose unexpectedly to 18.5 in July from 17.1 in June. It was forecast to fall to 16. The current conditions index climbed to 14.8 from 11.8 in June, while the expectations measure fell to 22.3 from 22.5 in the prior month.

U.K. new car registrations increased to the highest half-year total on record in the first half of 2015, industry data showed. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reported that the number of registered cars increased 7 percent to 1,376,889 units in the first half from 1,287,265 units in the previous year period.

Elsewhere, the Asian markets fell broadly, although Chinese stocks rose tentatively in response to a raft of support measures unveiled over the weekend. U.S. stock futures indicate a notably lower open on Wall Street as trading resumes after a long holiday weekend.