European stocks are seeing heavy losses this morning and financial markets took a hit across Asia overnight as Greece said its stock exchange will be shut on Monday and banks closed all week after a decision by the European Central Bank (ECB) not to extend emergency funding to the country.
London's leading FTSE 100 index fell more than 2% in early trading before pulling back marginally to sit at 6,654 - about 100 points lower - by 09:30. The continent's markets have been hit harder, with France's CAC 40 opening 4.32% lower, and the German DAX down 4.05%. In Tokyo the Nikkei 225 closed down 2.88% to 20,109. The Hong Kong Hang Seng fell 2.73% to 25,935. Sydney's main market was down 2.16%. The euro fell 1.5% against the yen to be worth 136.22 of the Japanese currency. The markets are reacting to a decree by the Greek government in which it cited the "extremely urgen...
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