Eurozone wrangling sucks life out of markets October 20, 2011 European markets saw confidence ebb away this morning as continuing wrangling over the Eurozone bailout fund took its toll. Optimism had been growing that the weekend meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels would come up with a substantial plan for dealing with the debt crisis, primarily through ramping up the bloc’s bailout mechanism, the [...]
Britain’s FTSE gets fillip from debt crisis hope and earnings October 19, 2011 BRITAIN’S leading share index closed higher yesterday, buoyed by financials on fresh speculation of a game-changing response to the Eurozone debt crisis at a weekend meeting of regional leaders. Forecast-beating earnings from the likes of spirits group Diageo also helped drive the move, although concerns about growth continued to come through in other results, for [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 18, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES FRANCE WARNS OVER EURO CRISIS France has warned that European unity would be at risk if Eurozone leaders failed to take bold action to tackle its sovereign debt crisis at a crucial summit this weekend. President Nicolas Sarkozy said leaders will take “very important decisions in the coming days” and said the destruction [...]
France defends AAA rating despite Moody’s warning October 18, 2011 France has vowed to defend its triple-A credit rating after a warning shot from ratings agency Moody’s that caused Paris to admit it will probably miss its growth targets this year. Moody’s raised the prospect of stripping one of the pillars of the Eurozone of its coveted triple-A status, saying it could place France on [...]
Hollande wins Socialist run-offs October 16, 2011 François Hollande yesterday became the French Socialist Party candidate who will try to unseat President Nicolas Sarkozy next April and return a Socialist to the Elysee Palace for the first time in 17 years. With well over two-thirds of close to three million votes counted, Hollande’s victory in a presidential primary election runoff against Martine [...]
US rejects plan to strengthen IMF October 14, 2011 Proposals to double the size of the IMF as part of a broader international response to Europe’s debt crisis have immediately run into resistance from the US and others, burying the idea for now and firmly putting the onus back on Europe. The plan had been tabled by emerging markets such as Brazil and China [...]
A Slovakian MP reveals why he rejects bailouts October 13, 2011 CAN YOU SUM UP FOR BRITISH READERS WHY YOU AND YOUR PARLIAMENTARY COLLEAGUES VOTED TO REJECT THE BAILOUT MOTION? Many reasons – the moral hazard, the fallacy of trying to solve indebtedness with more debt which will only prolong the agony, the principle that poorer people in responsible countries must not pay for the irresponsibility [...]
CHINA IS KEY TO A FURTHER RALLY IN RISK October 11, 2011 AS global markets stabilised last week in the wake of better than expected US employment data, the bulls breathed a sigh of relief that the broad sell-off in risk assets may be finally over. Last week’s better than expected economic data may have quelled concerns that the world is headed for a double dip recession, [...]
FTSE hits a five-week high on optimism over debt talks October 10, 2011 BANK and commodity stocks hoisted Britain’s top shares to a five-week closing high yesterday, on mounting optimism over the prospects for a solution to Europe’s debt crisis after a weekend meeting of French and German leaders. The FTSE 100 ended up 95.60 points, or 1.8 per cent, at 5,399.00, after Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel [...]
EU leaders delay summit over Greece and banks October 10, 2011 Europe’s leaders have delayed a vital summit meeting scheduled for next Monday by almost a week as they struggle to reach agreement on both Greece and the growing concerns over the region’s banks. On a day of announcements of deadlines in the Eurozone, European Council president Herman Van Rompuy said the EU’s summit meeting would [...]