Portugal, Spain Lead Worldwide Decline in Stocks; Dollar Gains

[Joanne98]

Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks and bonds fell in Spain, Portugal and eastern Europe on concern governments will struggle to fund their budget deficits as spending cuts in Greece trigger strikes. The dollar rallied.

Portugal’s PSI-20 Index slumped 4 percent, the most in 14 months, at 11:43 a.m. in London. Spain’s IBEX Index dropped 2.6 percent to the lowest level since August and credit-default swaps on Hungary climbed to a record. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.7 percent. The dollar strengthened against all but one of its 16 most-traded peers. The pound pared declines after the Bank of England announced a pause in its asset-purchase program.

The European Union’s pledge yesterday to back Greece’s plan to cut the region’s biggest budget deficit prompted investors to shun securities of countries with the worst shortfalls. Spanish borrowing costs rose at a sale of three-year notes today and Portugal scaled back an auction of Treasury bills yesterday.

“The focus is shifting toward Spain and Portugal, where the deficit-reduction plans have been far less ambitious than Greece,” said Kornelius Purps, a fixed-income strategist in Munich at UniCredit Markets & Investment Banking.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aMt1e_.q_sOU&pos=1

[westerebus]

1. A PIIG roast.

Arch-Duke hires Blackwater Protection Services. Film at eleven. }(

[ParkieDem]

2. From what I understand,

Spain had a housing bubble that made ours look like peanuts.

[abelenkpe2]

3. Spain and Greece

have been in trouble for a while now. The crisis really is worldwide. Good luck to all in weathering this catastrophe.

[roamer65]

4. There isn't an economic crisis that the printing presses can't solve.

:sarcasm:

-Bernanke School of Economics