The index fell around 100 points, or 1.4%, to 6850 by late morning.
Elsewhere in European markets German bund yields continued the climb this morning which was set off yesterday by comments from European Central Bank president Mario Draghi.
Draghi told investors they should get used to more volatility in bond markets, given the situation with ECB monetary policy and other central banks around the world.
The yield on the 10-year German paper crossed the 1% line by mid-morning, suggesting investors are not totally convinced a messy ‘Grexit’ would be contained to effecting Greece only.
“Greece’s day of reckoning is nearly upon us and traders can’t get out of the market fast enough,” said David Madden, market analyst at IG. “We are back to the bad old days of the eurozone debt crisis, when equity markets around Europe are selling off hard and fast. Only the brave stay long in the stock markets and it is difficult to keep your nerve when you are facing a sea of red trading screens.”
“Athens is doing its best to grind down its creditors and unlock the next round of the bailout without giving too much away in concessions,” Madden said. “A deal over Greece’s finances isn’t in sight yet, and even though the ECB has a track record of brokering an agreement at the last minute it is confident enough to buy into the market now.
“We are expecting the Dow Jones to open 76 points lower at 18,000, as dealers are driven out of the market by Greek default fears,” he added.
