By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
Greece's Athex closes at lowest level since 2012
Europe's benchmark stock index posted its first fall in six
sessions on Tuesday, and Greek stocks remained under pressure on
their second trading day since the market reopened Monday.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended 0.2% lower at 398.75, after
closing Monday at its highest level since July 22.
Greek weakness: Greece's Athex Composite index slumped 1.2% to
659.94, its lowest close since September 2012. The benchmark
started trading for the first time in five weeks on Monday, after
being halted for all of July while the Greek government and its
international creditors hammered out a last-ditch bailout deal.
Read: Greece expects final bailout deal by Aug. 18
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greece-expects-final-bailout-deal-by-aug-18-reports-2015-08-04)
The country's banks were hardest hit in the day's trading.
National Bank of Greece SA (ETE.AT) shaved off 28%, while Piraeus
Bank SA (TPEIR.AT) and Alpha Bank AE (ALPHA.AT) both plunged 30%,
the daily loss limit.
Banks across the rest of Europe were also mired in the red.
Shares of Credit Agricole SA (ACA.FR) slumped 10%, Banco Popolare
SC (BP.MI) fell 2.3%, and Banco Comercial Português SA (BPCGY) lost
2.9%.
Commodity blues: Energy companies were in negative territory
after Monday's harsh selloff in oil prices, which saw the global
crude benchmark trading below $50 a barrel for the first time since
January.
Shares of Repsol SA (REPYY) lost 1.6%, Total SA (TOT) (TOT) fell
0.7% on Tuesday and Eni SpA (ENI.MI) dropped 1%.
Oil prices recovered a bit on Tuesday
(http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid), with Brent
crude on London's ICE Futures rising 52 cents to trade back above
$50 a barrel. The U.S. benchmark, West Texas Intermediate crude,
added 93 cents to $46.10 a barrel.
Other markets: Country-specific benchmarks closed mixed, with
Germany's DAX 30 index up 0.1% at 11,456.07, while France's CAC 40
index slipped 0.2% to 5,112.14.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index ended down less than 0.1% at 6,686.57
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-drops-for-second-day-as-standard-life-travis-perkins-slide-2015-08-04).
Movers: Shares of BMW AG (BMW.XE) dropped 1.3% after the German
car maker reported a decline in second-quarter profit
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bmw-profit-falls-as-competition-heats-up-2015-08-04)
due to fierce competition.
Standard Life (SL.LN) fell 3.3% after the insurer and asset
manager said revenue declined in the first half of the year
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/standard-life-revenue-drops-on-market-volatility-2015-08-04)
due to market volatility.
Continental AG (CON.XE) climbed 5.7% after the tire maker said
earnings rose in the second quarter.
Meggitt PLC (MGGT.LN) jumped 7.9% after the engineering company
backed its full-year guidance and reported a rise in first-half
earnings.
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