Europe Stocks Off On Greece Concerns; Banks Drop

European stock markets dropped in early action on Monday, as worries over Greece returned to the spotlight, after German magazine Der Spiegel reported that the country faces a 20 billion euros ($26 billion) budget shortfall.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.4% to 274.75.

Fugro NV jumped 7.2% as it agreed to sell its geoscience division to CGG Veritas for 1.2 billion euros.

Shares of CGG Veritas dropped 7.4%. Elsewhere, banks were among major decliners with Spain’s Banco Santander SA off 1.1% and France’s BNP Paribas SA down 0.9%. The French CAC 40 index dropped 0.7% to 3,505.94. In the U.K.’ miners also added pressure and Anglo American PLC declined 1.8% and Rio Tinto PLC slipped 1%.

The FTSE 100 index gave up 0.4% to 5,829.89. Among German stocks, Deutsche Bank AG fell 1.1%. The DAX 30 index tripped 0.3% to 7,431.68.

Marketwatch