 Jan18 After downgrading nine European nations including France on January 13, Standard and Poor’s announced that it will also cut the rating of the European Financial Stability Facility from AAA to AA+. The news offset a relatively successful French bond auction which saw yields fall on one year notes fall from 0.454% at a January 9 auction to 0.406%. It appears that most investors had already priced in a cut in ratings for France and the reaction of investors in the first trading session after the release of the mass downgrades was rather muted. Germany is now the only eurozone state with a stable AAA rating. The EUR has failed to went much from 18 month lows and opens the Asia morning trading at 1.2660. Click here to read more.. » Jan14 TOKYO, Jan 4 (Reuters) – A small-squeeze revive in the euro stalled in Asia on Wednesday ahead of debt auctions in Germany, with market players dubious about the euro zone’s plans to fend off a independent debt crisis as some countries face huge debt refinancing needs. The euro is meeting resistance after posting its largest one-day revive in nearly two months on Tuesday as investors heavily trimmed bearish positions in the common currency after upbeat data bolstered risk appetite. Click here to read more.. » Jan14 The French and German leaders lacked New Year cheer in their opening messages to their nations as the clocks ticked past midnight into 2012 Nicholas Sarkozy even went so far as to call on the French to be courageous in the face of the euro’s dark days ahead. In the hope of distracting their populace from their own difficulties they’re taking potshots at the British, making a scapegoat of their ancient rival across the Channel. But while the hurt eurozone is subdue dominating headlines, the ripple effects are being felt elsewhere. Asian markets in particular are struggling as one of their largest export markets start to shut up shop to unknown goods. Click here to read more.. » Jan14 NEW YORK (Frankfurt: A0DKRK - news) , Jan 4 (Reuters) – The euro slipped against the dollar on Wednesday after a muted German Bund auction, with investors nervous about demand for euro zone independent debt, which may possibly push borrowing costs higher for already troubled economies. While the German 10-year auction was an improvement on a similar debt sale in November (Stuttgart: A0Z24E - news) , which had raised fears the bloc’s debt crisis was spreading to its strongest state, it was not enough to allay concerns. Click here to read more.. » Jan14 The most contemporary Closing Conference to Save the Euro finished in disarray when the UK refused to sign up to a proposed set of EU treaty changes. The UK’s veto was due to the inclusion of an EU-wide Tobin Tax on security transactions in the set of proposals. The justification for an international Tobin Tax is quite strong. Hypercompetitive securities markets with excessively-large trading volumes and hyper-quick price changes are a serious danger to global financial stability. A Tobin Tax would eliminate these perilous trading extremes without impinging much on underlying market efficiency. On other hand, the UK government’s refusal to sign up to an EU-only Tobin Tax, imposed on the City of London while the US and Asian global financial centres remain outside the tax net, was an obvious and sensible policy choice for the UK. Click here to read more.. » |
