LONDON—European stocks opened lower Monday after disappointing earnings dragged Asian indexes lower and concerns mounted over Greece's debt crisis following the arrest of the head of the International Monetary Fund over the weekend.
London's FTSE 100 was down 0.2%, Frankfurt's DAX was 0.8% lower at 7432 and Paris's CAC-40 dropped 0.1% to 3975.38.
A meeting of euro-zone finance ministers in Brussels Monday will focus on Greek debt, but the arrest of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn for the alleged sexual assault of a hotel maid has raised concerns about international support for Greece's reform plans, as Mr. Strauss-Kahn was a strong of the government's plans.
The sovereign-debt issue has the chance "to once again rattle a market that is far from brimming with confidence amid suggestions that there's mounting pressure on the Greek [government] to reschedule—or default on—its mounting debt burden, said Cameron Peacock of IG Markets.
In Asia overnight stock, markets were mostly down as concerns over European debt woes weighed, with Australia's market hitting an eight-week low.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.4% to 4647.0, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was down 0.8%, South Korea's Kospi Composite was off 0.6% and New Zealand's NZX-50 was flat.
Sentiment in regional markets was hit by Wall Street's drop on Friday amid heightened worries over Greece's debt crisis.
"It looks like it will be a cautious beginning to the week following a weak ending for stock markets at the end of last week," Crédit Agricole said in a note to clients. "It seems that risk aversion will remain elevated over the short-term until there is a resolution of various periphery worries in Europe."
In the U.S. on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 100.17 points, or 0.79%, to 12,595.75. The Nasdaq Composite shed 34.57 points, or 1.21%, to 2828.47, and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 10.88 points, or 0.81%, to 1337.77, with every sector in the red. The financial and materials sectors posted the biggest declines.
In foreign exchange markets, the euro was fetching $1.4100, from $1.4107 late in New York trade Friday, and ¥114.12, from ¥114.14. The dollar was at ¥80.93, compared with ¥80.84.
Nymex June crude-oil futures were down $1.30 at $98.35 a barrel. The price of spot gold was at $1,492.60 a troy ounce, down $1.25 from its New York settlement Friday.
