London - European stock markets lost ground on Monday as Greece held talks with its international creditors and concerns mounted about the potential for a default.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index slipped 0.03 percent to stand at 7,043.69 points in afternoon deals.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 lost 0.52 percent to 11,648.47 points and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 1.33 percent to 5,022.61 on profit-taking.
The euro dropped to $1.1155 from $1.1208 late in New York on Friday.
Most European indices had shot higher on Friday as US job creation figures, while solid, were viewed by the market as not being strong enough for the US Federal Reserve to begin raising interest rates next year.
London's stock market had rallied also as Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives held on to power in Britain's general election, with the country avoiding political instability at least in the short term.
"Greece is yet again dominating the session, and is likely to dominate the week as today's euro area finance ministers meeting has the country and a possible deal at the top of the agenda," said James Hughes, chief market analyst at Etoro trading group.
Greece pushed Europe on Monday to back its reform plans and free up cash before a huge repayment to the IMF, but ministers meeting in Brussels warned there would be no bailout deal yet.
The euro zone’s 19 ministers meet in Brussels one day before Greece must pay a 750 million euro debt bill to the International Monetary Fund that some fear the Mediterranean nation cannot afford.
In London, the Bank of England Monday kept its main interest rate at 0.50 percent as Britain battles the risk of deflation.
AFP
