Eurozone crisis live: Markets fall on news of Kim Jong-il's death

Asian markets drop sharply, FTSE 100 expected to open 69 points down
Mario Draghi speaks about break up of the eurozone
Osborne backs 7bn ringfencing of banks "casino" investment banking divisions
Live-blogging now: Rupert Neate

8.10am: The FTSE 100 has opened down 30 points to 5,360.
"It is a shorters market and not much real long-term investing," Joe Rundle, head of trading at ETX Capital, said. "I think it is going to be a negative week with very thin volumes.
"Everyone is talking about North Korea and the uncertainties, while Fitch had quite strong words in its statement. It does not look like anything is going to be solved in Europe until it is right on the brink.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was down 0.4% at 952.96 points.

The banks are among the biggest losers in the FTSE 100 following Vince Cable's announcement that he would "adopt in full" Sir John Vickers' proposal to "ringfence" retail banking from riskier investment banks.
Barclays dropped 1.9%, RBS is down 1.9%, Lloyds 1.8% and HSBC 1%.

"Banks held too little capital in the good times the danger now is that they will be forced to hold too much capital in bad times" Read Larry Elloitt's take on Vickers.

7.30am: Good morning, and welcome to another day of rolling coverage of the eurozone crisis.

European markets are forecast to open down in reaction to the news of the death of Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader.

Most Asia-Pacific markets have dropped sharply as expects warn that Kim's death could lead to civil unrest that could spark a crisis in the region. North Korea's military has been put on the highest state of alert.
South Korea's Kospi index dropped 3.4% and Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.3% to 8,! 296.12. The Korean won fell 1.6% against the dollar. The FTSE 100 is expected to open down 69 points to 5,328.

Meanwhile Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), has breached the taboo of not countenancing a break-up of the eurozone. In an interview with the FT Draghi warned that struggling eurozone countries that leave the euro bloc would still face great economic difficulties afterwards.
Countries leaving the bloc and devaluing their currency would create "a big inflation" and still need to adhere to structural reforms, "but in a much weaker position," he said.

And, everyone is still expecting Standard & Poor's to downgrade France's credit rating.


guardian.co.uk 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eurozone unemployment adds to gloom ahead of polls

Financial markets are braced for a rocky ride next week if voters in France and Greece strike a blow against the centrally imposed deficit targets that have been at the heart of Europe's response to the debt crisis over the past two year Rising unemployment and plunging business confidence in the euro area revealed the increasingly fragile state of the region's economy on Wednesday, as voters in France and Greece prepare to deliver their verdict on austerity in Sunday elections. Official figures showed that unemployment across the 17-member single currency zone increased by 169,000 in March, for the 11th consecutive month, to hit 17.37m. The unemployment rate was 10.9%, the highest level in its history. Even in Germany, which has so far largely escaped unscathed from the downturn sweep of the labour market, unemployment began to tick up in March, though it remained at just 5.6% of the workforce. There was also evidence that businesses are being hit by what many analysts expect ...
Keep reading

Murdoch daughter joins News board

Shine Television's founder will have similar status in her father's company to her brother James Murdoch when deal is complete Elisabeth Murdoch will join the board of her father's News Corporation and avoid reporting directly to her brother James after News completes the 415m buyout of her Shine Television group. The deal values the 42-year-old's controlling stake in Shine maker of Outcasts and Merlin at close to 200m, once the long-anticipated transaction completes around Easter. Shine will report to Chase Carey, News Corp's US-based deputy chairman, after the purchase completes regulatory approval even though the television producer is based in London. That means Shine will remain outside the direct remit of James Murdoch, the London-based chief executive of News Corporation, Europe and Asia putting the two siblings on a more equal footing at News Corporation. Although James Murdoch the subject of a profile in the New York Times at the weekend is widely see...
Keep reading

PM 'uneasy' over superinjunctions

Prime minister 'uneasy' over superinjunctions and judges' role after high court prevents identification of sex scandal footballer The prime minister has waded into the debate on the use of superinjunctions by the rich and famous to avoid allegations of scandal, declaring that parliament and not the courts should decide where the right to privacy begins. David Cameron said the development of a privacy law by judges based on European rights made him feel "a little uneasy". His comments, made while touring a car factory in Luton, follow judgments in the high court this week that prevent the identification of a married Premier League footballer and someone who works in the entertainment industry, both of whom are said to have had extramarital affairs. Cameron said: "I think there is a question here about privacy and the way our system works. "What's happening here is that the judges are using the European convention on human rights to deliver a sort of ...
Keep reading