Europe's top stock markets shrug off Greek plunge

Europe's main stock markets rose on Monday, appearing to shrug off a plunge in Athens as Greek trading resumed after a five-week shutdown.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index edged up a slight 0.03 percent to stand at 6,698.15 points in afternoon deals, while its heavyweight oil and mining sectors were hit by more disappointing Chinese data, traders said.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 climbed 1.24 percent to 11,449.63 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.70 percent to 5,118.20 points compared with Friday's close.

In foreign exchange, the euro eased to $1.0957 from $1.0984 late in New York on Friday.

Greece's stock exchange reopened Monday with a drop of more than 22 percent after a five-week shutdown imposed by the country's debt crisis and capital controls.

In later afternoon deals, the ATHEX index stood down 15.74 percent at 671.98 points compared with its June 26 close.

"The fear had been that after five weeks of forced closure, carnage on the reopen was likely, and that fear appears to have been confirmed," said Rebecca O'Keeffe, head of investment at stockbroker Interactive Investor.

"There are also increasing concerns that the Athens authorities are ill-prepared for such extreme moves in share prices."
The country's main banks took a heavy blow at the opening with drops of around 30 percent.

In London, shares in HSBC were up 0.26 percent to 581.20 pence after the British banking giant announced the sale of its Brazil business. HSBC also posted a drop in quarterly net profits.

More data showing softness in the Chinese economy hit mining stocks.

Glencore led the losers' board, shedding 3.61 percent to 200.50 pence, followed closely behind by peer Anglo American -- down 3.85 percent at 780 pence.

"Greece and China are back at the top of the news agenda, with the latter hitting UK mining stocks hard," said Chris Beauchamp, senior market analyst at IG trading group.

"Having seen a modest bounce last week the mining sector has taken a distinct turn for the worse today, with big names under heavy pressure," he added.

Elsewhere, Nokia shares were down 0.23 percent at 6.42 euros in Helsinki afternoon trading after the Finnish telecoms company said it was selling its mapping service HERE to German car makers BMW, Audi and Daimler for 2.8 billion euros ($3.0 billion).
Asian stock markets mostly fell Monday following the disappointing Chinese manufacturing figures and a drop on Wall Street on Friday.

The survey of Chinese manufacturing activity showed a decline to a two-year low in July, suggesting the world's second largest economy faces challenges in the third quarter.

On Monday Wall Street stocks opened little changed as a heavy week of US economic reports and earnings kicked off with data showing a slight rise in consumer spending in June.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.05 percent at 17,681.21 points.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.01 percent to stand at 2,104.14, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.13 percent to 5,135.11.