European shares are expected open the final day of the trading week lower as the Greek political wrangling continues to weigh on investor sentiment.
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The UK’s FTSE 100 is expected to open the day lower by 23 points, and Germany’s DAX is seen down by 40 points, but the CAC in France is called lower by 26 points.
Overnight, Asian shares were hit by JP Morgan announcement of a huge $2 billion trading loss, by a unit of the company whose purpose is to protect the bank from risk. The announcement hit its and other banks’ share price.
Greek Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos, who is running out of time to form a coalition government, meets with conservative leaders later today. The meeting is being seen as a last-ditch attempt to avoid re-elections in June as rhetoric from outside Greece grows louder for an exit by that country from the euro zone.
In related euro zone news, Spain is expected to announce further measures aimed at reforming its banks, which comes after the government takeover of its fourth largest lender, Bankia, earlier in the week.
Pressure on UK Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to increase Friday as Rebekah Brooks, a former senior player at New Corp’s News International unit, appears at the Leveson press inquiry. Revelations in the past few weeks have revealed an embarrassing closeness between Cameron’s government and senior executives at News International, the UK newspaper division of News Corp.
Earnings out of Europe include Centrica, IAG and Logica. Credit Agricole reported 940 million euro (1.2 billion) loss on greece in the first quarter and net profit came in at 242 million euros.