Tsipras 'certain' of a deal

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said hours before a make-or-break Eurogroup meeting on Friday that he was "certain" Athens' request for a six-month loan extension would be accepted despite objections from Berlin.

"This is the moment for a historic political decision for the future of Europe," Tsipras said in a written statement to the Reuters news agency. "Greece has done everything possible so that we can arrive at a mutually beneficial solution."

As news of the prime minister's confidence trickled out, the German blue-chip DAX stock index jumped 0.7 percent to a new high of 11,081.81 points and the euro fell to $1.13. Traders said the markets were very sensitive to any new developments in Greece's negotiations with its creditors.

ECB prepares for Grexit

Those developments included an exclusive report in Germany's influential Der Spiegel newsmagazine that said the European Central Bank was preparing contingency plans in case Greece ultimately has to leave the eurozone.

A spokesman for the central bank refused to comment on any alleged backup plans. He also categorically refuted other information from Spiegel stating that the ECB had been pressuring Greek banks to introduce capital controls to protect their liquidity as depositors withdraw massive amounts of money from their accounts.

Over the past two days alone, deposit outflows reached a staggering 1 billion euros ahead of a three-day weekend and a week before Greece's current bailout deal is set to expire. Information on the capital flight came from three unnamed banking sources who spoke to Reuters.

Germany softens its tone

A meeting of Eurogroup finance ministers scheduled for this afternoon was postponed by 90 minutes and will begin at 4:30 p.m. (1530 GMT), Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said.

As the finance chiefs have jostled to come to a mutual understanding and extend Greece's credit line, Berlin and Athens have increasingly been at loggerheads and expressed their frustration with the other side's entrenchment.

But on Friday afternoon, Germany softened its tone. A spokeswoman for Chancellor Angela Merkel called a letter submitted by Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis to the Eurogroup a "good signal."

Some perceived Merkel's remarks as her distancing herself from the combative tone used by Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble a day before, when he flatly rejected Varoufakis' formal proposal to extend Athens' loans.

cjc/pad (Reuters, dpa)