Singapore shares may open slightly lower on Tuesday tracking losses on Wall Street overnight, as investors turn more cautious amid fears that Portugal will be the next euro zone member to need a bailout. Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> was down 0.98% on Monday to 3,229.27 points.
Here are some stocks and factors to watch:
The European Central Bank has expressed concerns that the Irish bail-out package could affect its ability to provide further support to eurozone members.
The bank said possible flaws in the Irish bail-out legislation could compromise its ability to provide collateral for future funding.
It’s not just the “peripheral” European countries which are in trouble.As Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reported yesterday:The escalating debt crisis on the eurozone periphery is starting to contaminate the creditworthiness of Germany and the core states of …
The eurozone must overhaul the management of its economy to ensure economic recovery and the survival of the euro, a global body has warned. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the recent debt crisis poses a threat to Europe’s weak recovery.
The Bundestag has approved Germany’s portion of a 750-euro ($920 billion) rescue package from the EU and IMF for struggling eurozone economies. The result reflected a heated debate, with 319 “yes” votes, 73 “no” votes and 195 abstentions.
Nicolas Sarkozy has denied that he is at odds with Angela Merkel over the eurozone crisis. He spoke after a meeting in Paris with the new British Prime Minister David Cameron, whose country is not in the euro.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and her cabinet have given the ‘green light’ to the eurozone stability package. Germany is expected to contribute at least 123 billion euros to the debt rescue measures.
Eurozone finance ministers have endorsed a record 110-billion-euro bailout for Greece. The aid package requires that Athens implement tough austerity measures. Eurozone finance ministers, in an emergency session on Sunday, approved a loan package to save Greece from defaulting on its debt. Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker said a total of 110 billion euros ($146 billion) would be spread out over three years. Up to 30 billion euros will be ready to be disbursed in 2010.
You might assume that the reason for the implosion in the Eurozone is a mystery. But it’s not.There Wouldn’t Be a Crisis Among Nations If Banks’ Toxic Gambling Debts Hadn’t Been Assumed by the World’s Central BanksThere wouldn’t be a crisis among natio…
It’s not just Greece and Portugal.As Simon Johnson reports:This is not now about Greece (with 2 year yields reported around 20 percent today) or Portugal (up 7 basis points) or even Spain (2 year yields up 27 basis points; wake up please) or even Italy…
The financial woes of Greece and other eurozone member states are set to dominate Today’s EU summit in Brussels. Late on Wednesday, Europe’s under-fire socialist leaders gathered to work out their response to the debt crisis.
The swelling public deficits in Portugal, Spain and Greece have plunged the eurozone into the biggest crisis in its 11-year life, presaging years of belt-tightening, analysts warn. It is a vicious financial circle; the more fears over deficits and debts grow, the harder it becomes for the
The eurozone has emerged from recession earlier than predicted, but the unemployment rate is expected to rise through 2011. Meanwhile, Asia’s economies are leading the global recovery, according to a new OECD report.
The eurozone trade balance with the rest of the world slipped into deficit in August after a big surplus in July, as exports fell by more than imports. The deficit was 4bn euros, compared with a surplus of 12.3bn euros in July. In August last year, the deficit was 11bn euros.
Eurozone unemployment hit 9.4% in June – the highest in 10 years and another sign of the economic slowdown.
The number of jobless grew by 158,000 during the month, taking the total number of unemployed in the area using the euro to 14.9 million.
The figures came as separate data showed that inflation had declined more than expected in the eurozone in July.
Consumer prices in the 16-nation area fell a record 0.6% compared to a year earlier, according to Eurostat.
It was the second month in a row of negative inflation following June’s decline of 0.1%.
"That is the lowest inflation rate for the 16 countries sharing the euro in more than 50 years," said economist Martin Van Vliet of ING.
He said it should provide "a stark reminder" to the European Central Bank that inflation may fall further in the medium-term.
‘Inflexible labour market’
As consumers lose their jobs and tighten their belts, this leads to lower spending. To attract customers, retailers have been cutting prices further.
The European Central Bank predicts that consumer prices will decline for a few months due to the comparison with record high oil and food costs a year earlier.
Eurostat has calculated that 3.17m people living in the eurozone have become unemployed since June 2008, when the unemployment rate was 7.5%.
Analyst Juergen Michels of Citigroup said: "We expect in the coming months to see further increases in unemployment and that is likely to have a negative effect on consumption."
Spain was particularly badly hit with unemployment up 18.1% in June, and a youth unemployment rate of 36.5%.
Economist Jorg Radeke of the CEBR said the country was suffering from a "collapse in the construction sector and an inflexible labour market". </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Eurozone industrial output rose in May compared with April, the first month-on-month increase since August last year, official figures have shown.
Factory production across the 16 nations that share the single currency rose 0.5% last month from April, but was still down 17% from May last year.
The data comes two weeks after official figures showed eurozone retail sales fell in May, while unemployment rose.
Despite this picture, Brussels says the recession is now easing.
The European Commission has predicted that the official figures will show the eurozone economy contracted 0.6% between April and June, a slowdown on the 2.5% rate of decline seen between January and March.
Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics office, also revised up its industrial production data for April, saying it contracted by a rate of 1.4%, not the previously reported 1.9% fall.
‘Put in perspective’
"May’s first rise in industrial production is obviously very welcome news, and reinforces belief that the eurozone economy contracted at a substantially reduced rate," said Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight.
"Nevertheless, it needs to be put into perspective – production was still down by 17% year-on-year."
As a result, Mr Archer said it was "premature at this stage" to say that industrial output would make a sustained recovery.
Industrial production accounts for about 17% of economic activity across the eurozone. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
