European equities fell

European equities fell on Monday, tracking Friday’s losses on Wall Street and as a Greek minister said Athens cannot make debt repayments next month unless Greece reaches a deal with its creditors.

Greece’s ATG index fell 2.5 percent on the comments by Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis during a weekend TV show. After four months of talks with its euro zone partners and the IMF, the leftist-led government is still scrambling for a deal that could release up to 7.2 billion euros in remaining aid to avert bankruptcy.

The benchmark French CAC 40 index was down 0.8 percent by 0823 GMT in cautious trading, mirroring losses in the United States on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hinted at a possible rate hike this year. In comments made after European markets closed Yellen said that delaying a policy tightening until employment and inflation hit targets risked overheating the economy.

Trading volumes in Europe were expected to be thin as several markets in countries including the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States were shut for holidays.

Asian stocks rose as Chinese equities extended their world-beating rally and better-than-expected export data and a weaker yen boosted Japanese shares. China’s CSI 300 Index rallied above the 5,000 level for the first time in seven years amid speculation the government will accelerate measures to bolster the economy and cross-border sales of mutual funds will fuel equity inflows. Toyota Motor Corp. was the biggest boost to Japan’s Topix index as government figures showed vehicles were the largest contributor to April’s gain in exports. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.2 percent to 153.70 as of 4:39 p.m. in Tokyo.

Emerging-market stocks fell as utilities tumbled and concern grew that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. Poland’s zloty weakened after an opposition candidate won the presidential election.