The European markets retreated moderately on Friday as apprehensions remained over the second bail-out package for Greece. The Asian markets ended mostly in the red and the U.S. index futures are also lower.
Eurozone finance ministers on Thursday deferred the approval of a second bailout package for Greece, saying that the debt-ridden euro member should ratify a new set of austerity measures for receiving the 130 billion euros aid to finance its debts.
Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker made it clear after the meeting in Brussels that there will be "no disbursement before implementation (of the new set of conditions)."
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is losing 0.92 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is falling 0.48 percent.
The German DAX is losing 0.92 percent and the French CAC 40 is falling 0.88 percent. The UK's FTSE 100 is receding 0.27 percent and Switzerland's SMI is retreating 0.63 percent.
In Frankfurt, Commerzbank is losing 3.6 percent and Deutsche Bank is falling 2 percent.
Lufthansa is dropping 2.4 percent.
RWE is losing 3.1 percent and E.ON is dropping 1.2 percent.
ThyssenKrupp is retreating 3.1 percent. Nomura cut European steel sector to "Neutral" from "Bullish." Salzgitter is down 2.6 percent.
Infineon Technologies is gaining 1.7 percent.
Fraport is losing 0.3 percent. The operator of Frankfurt Airport reported a 5.5 percent growth in traffic for the month of January, helped by favorable winter weather conditions.
GEA Group is losing 2.2 percent. Deutsche Bank cut the stock to "Hold" from "Buy."
Exane BNP initiated Brennag with an "Outperform" rating. The stock is up 0.7 percent.
In France, Credit Agricole, Societe Generale and BNP Paribas are losing between 1.75 percent and 1.2 percent.
Renault is dropping 1.6 percent while Peugeot is flat.
Oil giant Total reported a higher fourth-quarter profit, as ongoing tensions on global oil supply drove up oil prices. The stock is down 1 percent.
Alcatel Lucent is surging 15 percent after the telecom equipment maker posted its first profit in six years.
STMicroelectronics is advancing 1.6 percent.
In London, Cable and Wireless Communications is declining 12.5 percent after stating that its performance in Panama was impacted by intensified mobile competition, slower progress on enterprise contracts and margin pressures.
Barclays is gaining 3.1 percent. The lender saw a plunge in quarterly profit and cut the bonus pool at Barclays Capital by 32 percent in 2011.
National Grid is down 1.7 percent. JPMorgan cut the stock to "Neutral" from "Overweight."
ING is declining 3.5 percent in Amsterdam. UBS cut the stock to "Neutral" from "Buy."
Zurich Financial is down 0.8 percent in Zurich. UBS reinitiated ZFS with a "Neutral" rating.
In economic news, Germany's inflation, as measured by the EU methodology, remained steady at 2.3 percent in January, unrevised from the flash estimate, a report from the Federal Statistical Office showed.
Meanwhile, in France, industrial production decreased more than economists expected in December, after rising in the previous month, data released by statistical office Insee revealed.
Across Asia/Pacific, major markets mostly ended lower. Australia's All Ordinaries fell 0.8 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 1.1 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 0.6 percent. However, China's Shanghai Composite Index posted a marginal gain of 0.1 percent after data showed that trade surplus surged unexpectedly in January.
In the U.S., futures point to a lower open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Dow edged up 0.1 percent, the Nasdaq rose 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 climbed 0.2 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for March delivery is losing $1.13 to $98.71 per barrel and April gold is falling $16.6 to $1724.6 a troy ounce.
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