Shares tumble on fears over Greek default  Speculation is
growing that Greece is sliding towards the eurozone exit   •
Jump to comments () Markets have fallen on fears over Greek
default. Photograph: Orestis Panagiotou/EPA  World stock markets
fell on Monday as the growing prospect of a Greek default sent
banking shares tumbling across Europe.  The escalating financial
crisis hit the French and German stock markets particularly
hard, and pushed Italy's borrowing costs up sharply.  France's
three biggest banks all plunged by more than 10%, after senior
German politicians appeared to accept that Greece may be forced
to quit the eurozone, sending the French CAC down 5.5%.
Germany's DAX index fell more than 3% to its lowest level since
July 2009.  In London, 144 points were wiped off the FTSE 100 at
one stage, with the index of blue-chip stocks down 2.6% to 5071.
Speculation swept the City that Greece is sliding towards the
eurozone exit, despite imposing a new property tax in an attempt
to keep its fiscal plans