Investing.com - European stocks were lower on Thursday, as concerns over Greece re-emerged after the European Central Bank said it would no longer accept Greek government bonds from banks seeking funding.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 0.98%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.76%, while Germany’s DAX 30 slid 0.41%.
On Wednesday, the ECB said it would no longer accept Greek bonds as collateral for lending, shifting the burden on to Greece’s central bank to provide additional liquidity for its lenders and increasing pressure on Athens.
The announcement came after Greece's new finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said the ECB would do "whatever it takes" to support member states such as Greece following a meeting with ECB President Mario Draghi.
Greece’s government is seeking debt relief on its current €240 billion bailout, which has fuelled fears over a clash with its creditors that could bring about its eventual exit from the euro zone.
Earlier Thursday, data showed that German factory orders rose 4.2% in December, exceeding expectations for a 1.5% gain, after a 2.4% fall in November.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) plunged 3.21% and 2.23%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) tumbled 1.40% and 1.70%.
BNP earlier announced that new rules and higher taxes will weigh on earnings.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit lost 1.61% and 1.90% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA and Banco Santander plummeted 2.13% and 2.14%.
On the upside, Sanofi shares surged 2.59% after the French drugmaker said profit will be "stable to slightly growing" this year.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 declined 0.62%, weighed by losses in energy and mining stocks.
Oil and gas giant BP (LONDON:BP) saw shares plummet 2.27%, while Tullow Oil (LONDON:TLW) led losses on the index with shares plunging 3.61%.
Mining giants Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) and Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) plummeted 1.30% and 2.48% respectively, while Bhp Billiton plunged 2.52%.
In the financial sector, stocks were also broadly lower. Shares in HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) retreated 0.85% and Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) dropped 0.99%, while Barclays tumbled 1.79% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) lost 2%.
Elsewhere, Astrazeneca (LONDON:AZN) lost 2.94% after the pharmaceutical company reported fourth-quarter earnings and sales below analysts' estimates.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.21% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.25% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.09% gain.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce its weekly report on initial jobless claims in addition to data on the trade balance.