Greek Stocks, Bonds Slide As Government Rebuffs Troika

Greek bonds and stocks slumped on Friday afternoon after the country's finance minister Yanis Varoufakis told reporters that the new government won't cooperate with the troika of international lenders. The yield on 10-year Greek government bonds jumped 80 basis points to 11.054%, while the Athex Composite stock index gave up 1.6% to 721.93. Speaking alongside Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem at a press conference in Athens, Varoufakis said Greece will not seek an extension to its bailout program when it ends in the end of February, according to Reuters. Instead, Varoufakis assured Dijsselbloem that the new government will implement the necessary reforms to get Greece back on track. Dijsselbloem warned Greece against taking unilateral steps and asked the new coalition to respect the existing bailout agreement with the eurozone, according to the Reuters report. Helena Smith from the Guardian newspaper described the press conference as a tense affair. The euro fell to $1.1287, from trading as high as $1.1366 earlier in the day.

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