European Markets Finished Solidly Lower After Greek Talks Stalled

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Friday's session firmly in negative territory. International Monetary Fund delegates left Brussels on Thursday after talks with Greece failed to reach a consensus. Worries over a possible Greek default and the possibility of a "Grexit" weighed on investor sentiment at the end of the trading week.

"There are major differences between us in most key areas. There has been no progress in narrowing these differences recently," IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said. The ball is very much in Greece's court right now, he added.

"There is no more time for gambling," European Union President Donald Tusk told reporters. "The day is coming, I'm afraid, that someone says that the game is over."

Greece has bundled the four payments due to the IMF into single payment. Accordingly, it has to repay EUR 1.6 billion this month. A Bank of England policymaker said that the U.K. economy has started to return to normal conditions and the time to end the loose monetary policy is nearing.

"The economy is starting to return to more normal conditions, after arguably the biggest shock in over a hundred years, and we expect this healing process to continue over the forecast," BoE Monetary Policy Committee member Ian McCafferty said in a speech, text of which was published by the bank on Friday.

"As a result, the time of the extraordinary policy stance of recent years is gradually drawing to a close."

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased by 1.39 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.97 percent.

The DAX of Germany dropped by 1.20 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell by 1.41 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. declined by 0.90 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 1.31 percent.

In Frankfurt, Volkswagen dropped by 1.71 percent. Daimler fell by 0.65 percent and BMW weakened by 1.30 percent.

Commerzbank decreased by 0.93 percent and Deutsche Bank lost 0.77 percent.

In Paris, Zodiac Aerospace declined by 5.36 percent. The company said its previous target of a current operating income close to that of the previous year would probably not be met.

Total dropped by 1.85 percent and Technip surrendered 0.74 percent.

Societe Generale fell by 1.22 percent and BNP Paribas lost 1.29 percent. Credit Agricole also finished down by 0.52 percent.

In London, Royal Mail increased by 2.78 percent. JP Morgan upgraded its rating on the stock to "Overweight."

Compass Group decreased by 0.80 percent, after Exane BNP Paribas downgraded the stock to "Neutral" from "Outperform."

BP declined by 2.06 percent and Royal Dutch Shell fell by 2.13 percent. Tullow Oil also sank by 3.28 percent.

Eurozone industrial production grew only marginally in April as energy and consumer goods output remained weak, signaling that economic recovery is set to slow in the second quarter. Industrial production edged up 0.1 percent month-on-month, rebounding from a 0.4 percent fall in March, figures from the Eurostat showed Friday. Economists had expected 0.4 percent growth.

Germany's wholesale prices continued to decline in May, but at a slower pace than in the prior month, figures from Destatis showed Friday. Wholesale prices fell 0.4 percent year-over-year in May, following a 0.9 percent decrease in April. The measure has been falling since July 2013.

U.K. construction output declined unexpectedly in April after rebounding in the prior month, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. Construction output fell 0.8 percent from March when it grew 1.4 percent. Output has so far dropped for three months this year. It was expected to rise 0.1 percent.

Producer prices in the U.S. rose by slightly more than anticipated in the month of May, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday, with the price growth largely reflecting a substantial rebound in energy prices.

The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand rose by 0.5 percent in May following a 0.4 percent drop in April. Economists had expected prices to increase by 0.4 percent.

Consumer sentiment in the U.S. has improved by much more than anticipated in the month of June, according to a report released by the University of Michigan on Friday.

The report said the preliminary reading on the consumer sentiment index for June came in at 94.6 compared to the final may reading of 90.7. Economists had expected the index to show a much more modest increase to 91.2.