By Peter Nurse
European stocks pushed lower Monday, weighed down by concerns
about the state of Greece's finances and political instability in
Spain, although trading is limited with key markets closed.
Over the weekend Greece raised doubts that it would have the
money it is due to repay to the International Monetary Fund next
month. This news comes despite months of negotiations between
Greece's leftist-led government and creditors, the European Union
and the IMF.
A Greek government spokesman stated Monday that the country has
the responsibility to repay its obligations both internally and to
its international creditors, saying that the government aims to
have a deal by the beginning of June.
Greece is scheduled to repay EUR1.6 billion ($1.76 billion) to
the IMF between June 5 and June 19.
The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index traded 0.2% lower, with
France's CAC-40 down 0.8% and Italy's FTSE MIB 2% weaker. The Greek
benchmark index, the ATHEX Composite was down 2%.
Spain's IBEX-35 also dropped, falling 2.2%, after regional and
municipal elections showed voters punishing the governing Popular
Party by giving weighty support to two upstart parties.
"Spain's political landscape is now more fragmented, with
antiestablishment Ciudadanos and Podemos gaining ground all across
the country," according to a note by UniCredit.
The Spanish banking sector has taken the brunt of the losses,
with Banco Popular, the country's sixth-largest bank by market
value, down 4.7%, the biggest loser on the Madrid exchange.
That said, activity has been limited Monday, with the major
markets of the U.K., Germany and the U.S. on vacation.
In the foreign-exchange markets, the dollar continued to
strengthen against the euro, following gains Friday after data
showed that U.S. consumer prices rose for the third straight month
in April.
The euro was 0.4% lower against the greenback at $1.0976.
Brent crude was around 0.4% lower on the day at $65.13 a barrel,
while gold was largely flat at $1,204.70 a troy ounce.
Write to Peter Nurse at peter.nurse@wsj.com