EUROPE MARKETS: European Stocks Fall From Record High As Investors Eye Greece

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

European stocks on Thursday dropped from a record high as investors kept an eye on Greece's debt situation and sifted through corporate financial updates.

The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.8% to 410.93, with only the consumer-goods sector ending higher. The oil and gas sector had advanced earlier in the session, but many of the group's shares fell alongside a drop in oil prices (CLK5) . U.S. oil prices on Wednesday settled at their strongest level of the year (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-stay-supported-brent-trades-above-60barrel-2015-04-16-11031855).

On Wednesday, the Stoxx 600 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-aim-for-new-record-ahead-of-ecb-policy-statement-2015-04-15) closed at a record high of 414.06, following an upbeat assessment of the European Central Bank's asset-purchase program by central-bank chief Mario Draghi.

Greece: Investors kept a wary eye on Greece as the country's cash crunch intensified, with a debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund and a large wage and pension bill both due at the beginning of May. On Thursday, the Financial Times reported that Greek officials had informally approached (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greece-asked-imf-to-delay-debt-repayment-report-2015-04-16) the IMF for a delay to repayment, but were rebuffed.

Greek bond prices fell, pushing the yield on two-year Greek debt up 3.3 percentage points to 26.3%, while the yield on 10-year debt rose 8 basis points to 12.5%. Prices and yields move inversely.

Greek equities, however, managed dig out of the red, leaving the Athex Composite up 1.1% at 752.37. The index had lost more than 4% over the past two sessions.

Late Wednesday, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services cut the country's long-term credit rating to CCC-plus from B-minus, and data released the same day showed Greece fell short of its 2014 budget target (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greece-misses-budget-targets-for-2014-2015-04-16). Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis was expected to meet U.S. President Barack Obama Thursday.

On the Stoxx 600, Diageo PLC (DEO) shares were among Thursday's biggest decliners. Shares fell 3.6% after the Smirnoff vodka and Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky maker said organic net sales fell 0.3% in the nine months ended March 31.

But Unilever PLC shares gained 2.6% after the company, whose products include Dove soap and Magnum ice cream, said first-quarter underlying sales grew 2.8%, outstripping expectations of a 2.1% increase from a Thomson Reuters projection.

On the country indexes, Germany's DAX 30 fell 1.9% to 11,998.86 and France's CAC 40 lost 0.6% to 5,224.49. The U.K..'s FTSE 100 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-eases-from-record-high-but-unilever-sabmiller-gain-ground-2015-04-16) dropped 0.5% to 7,060.45, also pulling back from a record closing high set on Wednesday.

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