European stocks slide

LONDON — European stock markets slid on Monday, hit by the eurozone debt crisis and a weak US jobs market, and shares in BSkyB slumped more than seven percent on turmoil over the firm's future.London's FTSE 100 index of top shares dropped 1.40 percent to 5,968.20 points at about mid-day, Frankfurt's DAX 30 shed 1.13 percent to 7,320.87 points and in Paris the CAC 40 index lost 1.50 percent to 3,855.15.The Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone companies slumped 1.60 percent to 2,745.69 points."Equities have extended their losses from Friday as eurozone sovereign debt concerns and a weak job market in the US continue to weigh on the market," said ETX Capital trader Manoj Ladwa.In Brussels on Monday, eurozone leaders were set to head off fresh worries of debt crisis contagion by seeking to iron out widening differences over the outline of a new Greek rescue package.Amid signs that contagion is spreading to Italy, finance ministers from the 17-nation area meet from 1300 GMT, with counterparts from the full European Union 27 joining them Tuesday.Held on the back of a roller-coaster week in which Italian bank shares fell, the talks will focus on the divisive question of possible private-sector involvement in a second bailout of Greece -- a deal not expected before September.In London on Monday, BSkyB's shares plunged more than seven percent as Rupert Murdoch fought to keep alive his bid for the British pay-TV group amid a phone hacking scandal at News Corp.'s News of the World newspaper.BSkyB slumped to 693 pence in morning trading from 750 pence at the close on Friday, a drop of 7.6 percent. It also fell below the 700-pence a share offer from Murdoch's News Corp. for the 61 percent of BSkyB it does not own.The share price later recovered to 712 pence, down 5.0 percent, approaching midday trading in London.In the United States, the market was awaiting earnings from Alcoa, kicking-off second-quarter US earnings.The US Labor Department said on Friday that the world's biggest economy created just 18,000 jobs in June,

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