U.S. stock futures fell as European finance ministers held back a Greece bailout and a political leader said he won’t support an austerity plan.
Equity futures followed a global slump as emergency talks of euro-area finance chiefs broke up late last night with Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker saying Greece must turn its budget cuts into law, flesh out 325 million euros in spending reductions and have its major party leaders sign up to the program so they don’t retreat after upcoming elections.
George Karatzaferis, the leader of one of the three parties supporting interim Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, said he wouldn’t support austerity measures worked out for a rescue. Karatzaferis, who heads the Laos party, spoke in Athens hours after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told lawmakers in Berlin that Greece was missing debt-cutting targets.
Global stocks:
Nikkei 8,947.17 -55.07 -0.61%
Hang Seng 20,783.86 -226.15 -1.08%
Shanghai Composite 2,351.98 +2.39 +0.10%
FTSE 5,844.38 -51.09 -0.87%
CAC 3,380.86 -43.85 -1.28%
DAX 6,661.89 -126.91 -1.87%
Crude oil: $97.64 (-2,2%).
Gold: $1713.00 (-1,6%).