French banks hit amid worries over Greek exposure

Major French banking stocks were pummelled on Monday on the back of persistent worries that Greece is on the verge of defaulting on its loans.

Societe Generale, particularly badly hit, slid 10.8 percent while other European financial stocks emerged in little better shape. BNP Paribas was down 11 percent at one point in the day.

Paris’ CAC40 was down almost five percent on Monday, Frankfurt’s Dax was off three percent and the FTSE in London plunged two percent. Exchanges in Asia al...