Standard & Poor's cut Ireland's debt rating by just one notch and gave the thumbs-up to its bank bill on Friday but rival Fitch's warning of another downgrade and a big drop in growth expectations spelled trouble ahead.
Removes reference to ECB adding margin to Irish debt after ECB says that will not be the case due to fourth rating agency DBRS still rating Ireland at A
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said that it has downgraded its sovereign credit ratings on the Republic of Ireland to 'BBB+/A-2'.
Standard & Poor's stripped Ireland of its last 'A' rating on Friday, citing future risks to bondholders, but the one notch cut was less severe than feared and gave the thumbs up to the state's bank bill.
Witticisms, super pranks, ultimate gags, hoaxes and plain lies are searching for fools this day. People turn the most cynical this day so that they don’t look naive, and turn on their gullibility meter at the highest level of alert. But a lot of us are caught off guard by some comic concoctions that mix contemporary humor with ingenious lies which are sometimes delectable.
Portugal sold 1.65 billion euros in an extraordinary sale of short-term bonds on Friday, but analysts said its high cost of borrowing was still likely to force it into an international bailout within months.
Portugal will seek to sell up to 1.5 billion euros of bonds at an extraordinary auction on Friday, testing investor appetite for its debt after its president on Thursday called a snap election for early June.
Portugal's budget deficit ballooned above target last year and a disagreement at the European Central Bank threatened to undermine Ireland's plans for finally resolving its bank crisis.
Brent was steady near $115 on Wednesday, after falling as much as 0.6 percent on indications that higher fuel prices were weighing on consumer confidence in top user the United States, where crude inventories rose more than expected last week.
Standard & Poor's downgraded Greece and Portugal on Tuesday, citing risks that the countries' debts to a new European bailout fund would be repaid before bond investors, sending their borrowing costs sharply higher.
U.S. stocks declined in early trade on Tuesday as investors watched geopolitical developments in Japan and Middle East with caution while S&P cut its credit ratings for both Portugal and Greece.
World stocks slipped on Tuesday, despite emerging market gains, while the euro recovered on expectations of higher interest rates.
Portugal has become the first country to meet Europe Union fuel-efficiency goals for cars, and Japan's Toyota is the brand that is closest to meeting the same target across Europe, a report showed on Monday.
Around 600 people lined up outside a store in London Friday afternoon to get their hands on a new iPad 2 tablet computer from Apple.
The U.S. labor market is finally improving, just when many of the other economic indicators are wavering.
It would make sense for Portugal to seek aid from the European Union bailout fund, although such a decision will be caught up in domestic politics, European Central Bank Governing Board member Ewald Nowotny said.
The symbolic action of turning lights out for an hour in an expression of concern for the environment is in the process of being officially observed in thousands of communities across 134 countries and territories on Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe.
Risk assets have performed surprisingly well this week despite the lack of good news and ongoing concerns globally.
US stocks are up on Friday, en route to end positive for the third consecutive session, as investors shrug off global concerns.
European leaders agreed a new package of anti-crisis measures at a two-day summit, but were forced to delay increasing their rescue fund and acknowledged they faced new threats from a government collapse in Portugal.
Moody's credit rating for Portugal depends heavily on the country maintaining strong commitment to consolidating its finances, the rating agency said on Friday.
Stocks were poised for a higher open on Friday as an upbeat outlook from Oracle boosts technology stocks.
