European Stocks Fall On Greece, Spain Worries

European markets fell Monday as investor sentiment turned negative with the revival of concerns over the debt crisis affecting the euro zone following the continuing financial instability in Greece and the delay in Spain asking for a bailout officially.

The French CAC 40 index was down 0.24 percent or 8.30 points to 3496.26. Shares of Renault SA fell 1.07 percent and those of Lafarge SA declined 0.50 percent.

London’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.20 percent or 11.70 points to 5884.45. Shares of Aggreko PLC declined 1.59 percent and shares of AstraZeneca PLC were down 0.46 percent.

The German DAX 30 index was down 0.20 percent or 14.54 points to 7366.10. Shares of Deutsche Post AG fell 0.49 percent and those of Continental AG declined 0.48 percent.

Spain's IBEX 35 was down 0.38 percent or 30 points to 7883.40. Shares of Bankia SA fell 3.90 percent and those of Acciona SA dropped 3.56 percent.

With the regional elections in Galicia and Basque over, it is expected that the Spanish government will not delay the formal request for a bailout from the European Central Bank. The results of the regional Spanish elections Oct 21 were favorable for the ruling Popular Party. The results are expected to bring a relief to the government, which needs to push fiscal and structural reforms to overcome the economic and financial instability faced by Spain.

Market players sense that Spain will request a PCCL rather than an enhanced conditions credit line (ECCL). “The difference is that, unlike the ECCL, the PCCL only makes ex ante requests from the country demanding it and associates no corrective action as conditions for providing the funds,” Credit Agricole said in a note.

Meanwhile, talks between Greece and the Troika, consisting of the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF, were faced with disagreement on labor reforms steps to be undertaken on austerity measures to be taken by the country.

On the fiscal front, Greece made some progress in its budget for 2013 with measures to reduce the deficit from 6.6 percent of GDP to 4.2 percent. But there are concerns that the budget is too optimistic and the economy will shrink by as much as 5 percent next year. So it is likely that there will be a need for additional wage and pension cuts in return for signing off the fiscal package.