Euro stocks down on Greek fears; DAX slips 0.08%

Investing.com -  European stocks closed lower Wednesday, as  Greek fears continue to weigh on risk appetite.
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After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 gave back 0.05%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.05%, while Germany's DAX slipped 0.08%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 dropped 0.24%.
 
Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papdemos is gathering the nation’s leaders to reach consensus on the fiscal cuts required for another European Union led bailout package.
 
However, this meeting was postponed as the Prime Minister decided to meet with the troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to negotiate the terms needed to obtain a second bailout package
 
Greek policy makers have already agreed on cuts equal to 1.5% of the island nation’s gross domestic product. However, they are yet to agree on how to recapitalize banks, reduce wages and ensure the survival of pension funds.
 
These delays have reignited fears of a Greek default and euro zone collapse leading to the bearish equity environment.
 
Earlier, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that the nation’s industrial output will likely slow this quarter due to the euro zone debt crisis and worldwide economic cooling.
 
Adding to the Chinese bearish projection, the International Monetary Fund stated that China’s economic expansion may be cut in half by the euro zone’s debt crisis.
 
This Chinese crisis would warrant significant fiscal stimulus from the nation’s government. The IMF went on to state that China’s growth would drop be as much as four percentage points  from the fund’s current projection for an expansion of 8.2% in 2012.
 
Yesterday, German industrial output surprisingly declined the most in three years in December. Production gave back 2.9% from November where is stagnated.
 
Wind turbine maker, Vestas plummeted 14% after reporting an annual loss of EUR166 million, far surpassing the average analyst estimate of a EUR40.3 million loss.
 
Banco Commercial continued its march higher by climbing 4.6% on plans on ousting its CEO.
 
The world’s largest mining company, BHP Billiton fell for the third day giving back another 2.3%.
 
Nexans soared 9% as the world’s second largest maker of cables and wires reported an increase in its 2011 margin and forecast additional revenue growth in 2012.
 
Mobistar, Belgium’s mobile phone company, fell 9% after forecasting a profit decline this year.
 
In the U.S., stocks are lower with the Dow down 0.27%, the S&P 500 fell 0.19% and the Nasdaq dropped 0.13%.
 
Investors are awaiting the European Central Bank’s interest rate announcement and press conference, as well as U.S. unemployment claims and the Bank of England’s interest rate decision on Thursday.