Investing.com - European stocks opened sharply lower on Monday, as sustained fears of a possible Greek exit from the euro zone weighed heavily on equity markets.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 plummeted 1.81%, France’s CAC 40 lost 1.46%, while Germany’s DAX 30 tumbled 1.87%.
European equities were hit by renewed concerns over Greece after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Sunday that he would stick to plans to roll back austerity measures and reject an international bailout extension.
Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s downgraded Greece late Friday and warned that time is running out for Athens to reach an agreement on a new financing program with creditors.
Earlier Monday, official data showed that Germany's trade surplus widened to €21.8 billion in December from €17.9 billion in November, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated surplus of €17.7 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade surplus to widen to €18.3 billion in December.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) plunged 3.13% and 1.93%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) tumbled 1.13% and 0.89%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit plummeted 2.02% and 1.90% respectively, while Spanish banks Banco Santander and BBVA lost 1.47% and 1.48%.
UBS Group (SIX:UBSG) added to losses, with shares down 0.37% amid reports the U.S. Justice Department is looking into whether the Swiss lender misled clients in the marketing and selling of foreign-exchange structured products.
In London, FTSE 100 dropped 0.82%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts lower.
Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) declined 0.69% and Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) retreated 1.17%, while HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) and Barclays tumbled 1.22% and 1.52% respectively.
HSBC Holdings made headlines around the world following reports its private bank in Switzerland helped clients evade millions of dollars worth of taxes and offered deals to help them stay ahead of the law.
Meanwhile, mining stocks were broadly higher as Antofagasta gained 0.78% and Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) advanced 0.97%, while Randgold Resources jumped 1.13% and Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) rallied 1.37%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.47% decline, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.54% drop, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.44% slide.