France and Spain sold all the bonds they wanted at auction today, though for Spain the cost was rising yields, indicating growing concerns the government will not be able to tame its deficit.
US stocks fell for a second day as labor market data showed more signs of weakness, while a warning from Qualcomm and poor results from Stanley Black & Decker also discouraged investors. Meanwhile, European equity markets sold off.
India successfully test-fired on Thursday a nuclear-capable missile that can reach Beijing and Eastern Europe, thrusting the emerging Asian power into a small club of nations that can deploy nuclear weapons at such a great distance.
An Italian museum director in the mafia-influenced northeast of Naples has pledged to burn three works of art per week to protest against the lack of spending on culture.
Norwegian anti-Islamic fanatic Anders Behring Breivik told a court today he had planned for even bigger attacks before killing 77 people and had prepared for the massacre by playing computer games.
Shares of Argentina’s biggest energy company Repsol-YPF bounced back from previous losses by gaining 5.1 percent at the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange; while in Wall Street shares were also recovering from a bumpy week and gained 9.9 percent. In Spain, however, shares fell 4.8 percent.
Rating Agency S&P announced today it was downgrading Spain-based energy company Repsol-YPF after Argentina’s government announced the expropriation of 51 percent of its shares. The rating was lowered from BBB to BBB (minus), the agency said today in a statement.
Spain will discuss a joint response with the United States to Argentina‘s forced nationalization of the YPF oil company, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said today.
Spain's Trade Secretary Jaime García-Legaz said today the European Union will intervene on his country's behalf over the Argentine government's plan to seize a controlling stake in YPF oil and gas company Repsol.
The unconscious pilot of a small private plane flew in circles over the Gulf of Mexico for hours, shadowed by two US military jets, before running out of fuel and crashing and sinking into the watery depths, authorities said.