September 19, 2011
Europe's failure to resolve its spiralling debt crisis saw stock markets and the euro fall sharply on Monday amid fears that Greece, the country at the centre of the drama, was veering towards default.
Investors watched closely as a crucial teleconference between the Greek finance minister and Athens' international creditors got under way tonight in a desperate bid by the cash-strapped nation to secure more funds to keep afloat.
European stock markets were down heavily with the FTSE 100 in London closing down more than 100 points at 5259. The Dow Jones industrial average was down more than 200 points in afternoon trading amid warnings from the US treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, that the euro crisis was affecting American business confidence. The oil price fell $2.20 to $85.76 in New York, while the euro dropped at one point as low as $1.3586, approaching last week's seven-month low of $1.3495.
At stake for Greece is an €8bn (£7bn) rescue loan – the sixth instalment of a €110bn package that Greece received in May 2010 – and a second bailout worth €109bn that the European Union, European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) also approved to prop up an economy viewed as insolvent.
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