European Stocks Tread Water, Greek Debt Deadline Eyed
European stocks are treading water, flitting between small gains and losses, with investors reluctant to make any bold moves ahead of Greece's debt-swap deadline.
(DOW JONES NEWSWIRES) London - At 0845 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.1% at 258.10. London's FTSE 100 index was down 0.1% at 5760.21, Paris's CAC 40 index was flat at 3363.28 and Frankfurt's DAX was 0.2% lower at 6618.62.
Greece is hopeful it can achieve participation of around 75% to 80% in the deal, which is aimed at writing down 53.5% of the country's EUR177 billion debt. However, that would still fall short of the 90% needed to avoid the activation of collective action clauses that would force the hand of reluctant investors. The worry here is that the activation of CACs will trigger payouts under credit-default swap contracts, as it would be a case of a debtor coercing a creditor under the rules of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.
