By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks declined for a second
straight session on Monday, tracking the rest of Europe lower as
finance ministers addressed Greece's debt woes.
The FTSE 100 index dropped 0.5% to 6,876.47, building on a 0.7%
loss from Friday.
Equities across Europe kicked off the week on a downbeat note as
eurozone finance officials discussed Greece's issues with
international creditors over the country's economic-reform
proposals. But progress by Athens on reforms related to the
four-month extension Greece's bailout program have been slow, said
Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem,
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/eurogroup-urges-greece-to-speed-up-reform-talks-to-unlock-aid-2015-03-09)
leader of the Eurogroup forum of finance ministers, on Monday.
No conclusion about Greece's financing was made by the Eurogroup
on Monday, according to Reuters.
In the U.K., shares of WPP PLC turned higher by 1.2%. The
advertising giant reporting a rise in full-year earnings
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wpp-posts-rise-in-full-year-profit-2015-03-09-5485429),
and said its dividend of 38.2 pence a share would be nearly 12%
higher than last year's dividend.
Shares of Glencore PLC gained 2.6% after Exane BNP Paribas
lifted the miner's target price by 8% to GBP3.45 ($5.21).
Among the FTSE 100's losing shares, Land Securities PLC gave up
2.1% and British Land Co. PLC fell 1.7%. CMC Markets said in a note
that property stocks, which are sensitive to interest rates, were
hurt as yields on U.K. government debt increased on the prospect of
higher rates in the U.K. as well as in the U.S.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires