By CARLO PIOVANO
AP Business Writer
LONDON (AP) - World markets fell Monday on concerns that Greece's financial problems will not be solved by a tentative deal to cancel part of its debt, while European leaders met to find ways to revive the region's ailing economy.
The leaders meeting in Brussels will likely focus on how to stimulate economic growth and create jobs at a time when huge government spending cuts threaten to push many countries back into recession.
Latest data showed that Spain was one step closer to recession - technically defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction - after its economy shrank in the last three months of 2011.
Experts say Europe's efforts to cut its high levels of debt will be for nothing if its economies remain uncompetitive. The leaders will also discuss a new treaty on tightening budget controls and setting up a permanent bailout fund.
But the meeting will be dominated by another topic that is not officially for discussion - Greece's debt problem.
Greece is said to be close to a deal with its private creditors that could avert a disastrous default this spring. Investors holding 206 billion ($272 billion) in Greek bonds would exchange them for bonds with half the face value. The replacement bonds would have a longer maturity and pay a lower interest rate. When the bonds mature, Greece would have to pay its bondholders only 103 billion.
But because Greece has been in recession for years, some experts fear it could need more rescue loans from its bailout partners - other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund - if it is to remain solvent.
Richer countries like Germany, however, are losing patience with giving Athens loans, saying the Greek government is not implementing reforms and austerity cuts quickly enough.
A German official even proposed to have an EU official directly oversee Athens' government spending. The idea was quickly rejected, however, by the European Commission and Greek leaders initially as well as by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the summit on Monday.
Despite progress in Greece's debt talks with private creditors, the continued uncertainty over its finances pushed markets lower Monday.
Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1 percent to 5,671 and Germany's DAX lost 1 percent to 6,444.45. France's CAC-40 shed 1.6 percent to 3,265.64. Wall Street also fell in early trading, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling 0.7 percent to 12,570.7 and the S&P 500 down 0.8 percent to 1,306.
Sentiment, which has been relatively buoyant so far this year on hopes for a recovery in the U.S., was also dented by Fitch Ratings agency's announcement late Friday that it had downgraded five eurozone countries, including Italy and Spain.