European shares dip, Greek stocks extend slide

London - European shares dipped on Wednesday, with Greek stocks extending the sell-off sparked by anti-bailout party Syriza's victory in Sunday's election.

The Greek banking index was down over 20% on Wednesday, hitting a record low. It has plummeted 98.6% since late 2009, before Europe's sovereign debt crisis started.

Traders said local investors feared the new government's anti-austerity stance would make negotiations with the eurozone on a new aid deal difficult and jeopardise liquidity.

The combined value of the top four Greek listed banks, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank, National Bank of Greece , Eurobank Ergasias fell to about €12bn.

"Should their collateral be disqualified by the ECB, they will have no money, and a bank with no money is not a bank ... The price is just building in the expectation that things could go pretty badly," said Simon Maughan, head of research at OTAS Technologies.

"A lot of local and retail punters ... will be looking at the price action and wanting to get out, at any price."

Shares in Greek utility PPC and Piraeus Port Authority fell by 14.5% and 10.4% respectively after the new government said it would stop the planned sale of a 67% stake in Piraeus Port Authority.

Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis told Greek television earlier that PPC's planned privatisation would also be halted.

Athens's ATG index was down 7.9%, having lost 14.1% since the start of the week.

At 14:30, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.2% at 1 472.58 points.

Shares in European technology firms rallied, with ARM Holdings up 1.6%, lifted by forecast-beating results from Apple. The group posted quarterly results that smashed Wall Street expectations with record sales of big-screen iPhones in the holiday shopping season and a 70% rise in China sales.

Shares in Electrolux were among the top gainers, rising 12.3% after the global home appliances maker forecast decent market growth on both sides of the north Atlantic this year.

Nordea, the Nordic region's biggest bank by market value, also rallied, up 6.7% after it reported fourth-quarter operating profit in line with expectations on Wednesday and raised its dividend.