European stocks fell Monday ahead of more talks aimed at resolving Greece`s debt crisis, but London briefly hit another record peak before pulling lower.
In morning deals, London`s benchmark FTSE 100 index soared as high as 7,027.33 points, extending its recent record run on a wave of investor optimism over the economic outlook. It later stood at 6,996.90 points, down 0.36 percent from Friday`s close.
Elsewhere, Frankfurt`s DAX 30 index shed 0.45 percent to 11,984.79 points and the CAC 40 in Paris slid 0.18 percent to 5,078.25.
The leaders of Greece and Germany meet Monday aiming to calm the bitter acrimony that has raged since a radical-left government took power in Athens vowing to halt an austerity drive championed by Berlin.
After a weeks-long war of words, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will welcome Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras with military honours at her imposing glass-and-steel chancellery in central Berlin.
Both sides say they will not negotiate on a settlement for Greece`s crushing debt as the country teeters on the brink of insolvency.
"The eurozone`s big news is a trip to Berlin for Alexis Tsipras as he meets Merkel to talk about the Greek debt crisis, and more importantly, try and rebuild the bruised and breaking relationship between the two nations," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.
"Tsipras has already stated that Greece`s debt will be `impossible` to pay without help, so it remains to be seen how productive these talks will actually be.
"These two leaders will be meeting against the backdrop of more market instability, with the eurozone indices dipping into the red following last Friday`s rebound."
In foreign exchange activity, the European single currency edged up to USD 1.0870 from USD 1.0821 late on Friday in New York.
The dollar continued to struggle after the Federal Reserve dampened expectations for an early interest rate hike last week, analysts said.
"Expectations of a June interest rate increase were a key driver of the bull market in the dollar over the last three months, but last week`s Fed meeting injected some uncertainty into the exact timing of rate increases," noted CurrenciesDirect dealer Alistair Cotton.
Asian equity markets mostly advanced Monday after rallies on Wall Street and in Europe.
With few catalysts to drive business, investors in the region took their lead from their US counterparts who have been cheered by the Fed`s dovish comments on rates.
Tokyo stocks added 0.99 percent, Shanghai surged 1.95 percent and Hong Kong gained 0.49 percent, but Seoul fell 0.32 percent.
