EUROPE MARKETS: European Stocks Break Five-session Winning Streak

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Greece's Athex closes at lowest level since 2012

Europe's benchmark stock index posted its first fall in six sessions on Tuesday, and Greek stocks remained under pressure on their second trading day since the market reopened Monday.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended 0.2% lower at 398.75, after closing Monday at its highest level since July 22.

Greek weakness: Greece's Athex Composite index slumped 1.2% to 659.94, its lowest close since September 2012. The benchmark started trading for the first time in five weeks on Monday, after being halted for all of July while the Greek government and its international creditors hammered out a last-ditch bailout deal. Read: Greece expects final bailout deal by Aug. 18 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greece-expects-final-bailout-deal-by-aug-18-reports-2015-08-04)

The country's banks were hardest hit in the day's trading. National Bank of Greece SA (ETE.AT) shaved off 28%, while Piraeus Bank SA (TPEIR.AT) and Alpha Bank AE (ALPHA.AT) both plunged 30%, the daily loss limit.

Banks across the rest of Europe were also mired in the red. Shares of Credit Agricole SA (ACA.FR) slumped 10%, Banco Popolare SC (BP.MI) fell 2.3%, and Banco Comercial Português SA (BPCGY) lost 2.9%.

Commodity blues: Energy companies were in negative territory after Monday's harsh selloff in oil prices, which saw the global crude benchmark trading below $50 a barrel for the first time since January.

Shares of Repsol SA (REPYY) lost 1.6%, Total SA (TOT) (TOT) fell 0.7% on Tuesday and Eni SpA (ENI.MI) dropped 1%.

Oil prices recovered a bit on Tuesday (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid), with Brent crude on London's ICE Futures rising 52 cents to trade back above $50 a barrel. The U.S. benchmark, West Texas Intermediate crude, added 93 cents to $46.10 a barrel.

Other markets: Country-specific benchmarks closed mixed, with Germany's DAX 30 index up 0.1% at 11,456.07, while France's CAC 40 index slipped 0.2% to 5,112.14.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index ended down less than 0.1% at 6,686.57 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-drops-for-second-day-as-standard-life-travis-perkins-slide-2015-08-04).

Movers: Shares of BMW AG (BMW.XE) dropped 1.3% after the German car maker reported a decline in second-quarter profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bmw-profit-falls-as-competition-heats-up-2015-08-04) due to fierce competition.

Standard Life (SL.LN) fell 3.3% after the insurer and asset manager said revenue declined in the first half of the year (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/standard-life-revenue-drops-on-market-volatility-2015-08-04) due to market volatility.

Continental AG (CON.XE) climbed 5.7% after the tire maker said earnings rose in the second quarter.

Meggitt PLC (MGGT.LN) jumped 7.9% after the engineering company backed its full-year guidance and reported a rise in first-half earnings.

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