 |
Stocks, euro plummet on German shorting ban fears
The decision has unsettled markets as it points to a lack of policy coordination amongst European members and has raised fears of further regulation.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 1.02 percent, but energy stocks were boosted by crude oil touching $70 a barrel before dipping back to $68.86. Earlier, in Japan, the Nikkei closed down 1.54 percent, a new three-month low.
In the fixed income markets, German government bonds pared earlier losses after successful French and Spanish bond auctions.
Greek and Portuguese yield spreads over Bunds were broadly steady, while the cost of insuring against default by issuers from the eurozone periphery was also steady following the previous session’s volatility. The euro remained vulnerable, slipping back 0.76 percent to $1.233 in choppy trading, with extreme short positioning exacerbating moves.
Stuart Thomson, chief economist at Ignis Asset Management, said he expected the euro to continue falling over the medium term, reaching parity against the dollar by the end of 2011. The US dollar rose slightly versus a currency basket to trade at 86.65 on safe-haven demand.
Meanwhile, The Times claimed in a report on Thursday that the debt crisis in Greece may end up in the dissolution of the eurozone, citing Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel’s statement that “the euro’s future is in danger.”
However, this should not be perceived as a threat for the EU, the report asserted, adding that a single currency for the entire continent was a political romanticism rather than an economic project. The dissolution would, nonetheless, trigger chaos, it noted.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BÜLENT KENEŞ |  |
||
| What befell Niyazi-i Misri in the past is happening to Fethullah Gülen now | |||
| EKREM DUMANLI |  |
||
| When a call for fairness and reason finds acceptance | |||
| ŞAHİN ALPAY |  |
||
| Uludere, test case for democracy in Turkey | |||
| EMRE USLU |  |
||
| Are the Kurds mentally divorced from Turkey? | |||
| GÖKHAN BACIK |  |
||
| Erdoğan, Gül and Davutoğlu: the inner bargain on Turkish foreign policy | |||
| MARKAR ESAYAN |  |
||
| Taking lessons from previous experiences with the military | |||
| YAVUZ BAYDAR |  |
||
| Qualm | |||
| ÖMER TAŞPINAR |  |
||
| A new phase in Syria? | |||
| İHSAN DAĞI |  |
||
| Turkish foreign policy: Time for a re-evaluation | |||
| SEYFETTİN GÜRSEL |  |
||
| Poor-friendly economic growth and the AK Party | |||
| CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON |  |
||
| Missing women, missing opportunities | |||
| BERK ÇEKTİR |  |
||
| Changes to incentives for investment in Turkey | |||
| MERVE BÜŞRA ÖZTÜRK |  |
||
| The 1960 coup: a final test for democracy | |||
| AMANDA PAUL |  |
||
| Ukraine: a lost country | |||
| MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE |  |
||
| The 52nd anniversary of May 27 | |||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
