Market Update
Stocks in Europe edged lower early Monday, after fresh news over Greece raised concerns over its ability to get emergency funds and avoid a default.
At the time of writing, Britain's FTSE was down 2.5%, France's CAC was off 2.4% while Germany's DAX fell 3.1%.
The U.S. dollar rose against most peers, and the most against the euro after a Reuters report said the Greek parliament had approved of the country's austerity plan but the budget pegged the country's deficit at 8.5% of its 2011 gross domestic product, instead of 7.6% asked by other Euro-zone nations.
Greece needs emergency funds up to $10.7 billion, part of the aid promised to it by European authorities last year, to service its immediate debt obligations and avert a payments default.
In commodities, gold prices rose while crude oil and most base metals drifted lower.
Bank stocks reacted negatively to the news that Greece may miss its deficit targets: Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale dropped between 4.2% and 6%.
Auto stocks also stepped lower amid nervousness over the Greece issue and its potential impact on the global economy: Renault, Daimler, Volkswagen and BMW were off 2.8% to 6.2%.