Shares, euro steady but Greek worries weigh

21/05/2012 - 8:47

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares took a breather from last week's sell-off and the single currency steadied on Monday, but investors were wary after a weekend meeting of Group of Eight leaders failed to ease concerns about the risk of Greece exiting the euro.

The FTSE Eurofirst index of top European shares edged up 0.2 percent at 972.09 points after losing 5.1 percent last week to reach its lowest level in five months.

"There has to be a resolution around Greece before any sort of confidence comes back to the markets," Andrew Wells, Global Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income, at Fidelity Worldwide Investment.

The euro was off about 0.1 percent to $1.2770, moving away from the four-month low of $1.2642 hit on Friday, which was not far from its lowest point for 2012.

Asian shares and some commodity markets did gain some support after a call from China's premier Wen Jiabao for more efforts to support growth.

MSCI's world equity index was steady at 298.21 after Asian shares outside Japan gained 0.5 percent earlier.

German Bunds shared in the respite across Europe, trading 16 ticks lower at 143.48 after the Group of Eight leaders said on Saturday that their "imperative was to promote growth and jobs" and gave verbal backing for Greece to stay in the euro.

(Reporting by Richard Hubbard; editing by Anna Willard)