EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

Spain

Is Spain Becoming The Next Greece?

Last year we woke up to headlines involving the home of the Acropolis and one of the worst debt situations in recent history – Greece.

Markets Tailspin On New Greek Bank Woes

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
Stocks and commodities plunged Wednesday after the head of the European Central Bank -- a lynchpin in the euro zone's effort to contain the effects of its sovereign debt crisis -- suggested that some Greek banks will be left to collapse.

Gold Plunges On ECB Comments That Boosted Dollar

Gold bars in Hong Kong
Gold prices hit their lowest since early January on Wednesday as comments from the European Central Bank lifted the dollar to three-week highs against the euro, accelerating a fall sparked by declining expectations of more U.S. monetary easing.
Euro Union

Euro Zone Data Offer Further Signs Of Recession

Fresh figures on business activity and retail sales in the 17-member currency area reinforce earlier signs of recession, even as the European Central Bank left its main interest rate unchanged at an all-time low of 1 percent.
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A sculpture showing the Euro currency sign is seen in front of the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt

Eurozone Agrees To Increase Rescue Funds To $930 Billion

Eurozone finance ministers agreed at a meeting in Copenhagen on Friday to increase the bailout lending limit to 700 billion euros ($930 billion), a move aimed at reassuring financial markets wary of a Eurozone default and dampening the crippling debt crisis of the past few years.
The euro zone has entered a technical recession in the first quarter of 2012, according to Eurocoin

Euro Zone Lagging Behind In Shaky G7 Recovery: OECD

Euro zone nations are falling far behind the United States and Canada as a fragile recovery takes root in advanced economies, the OECD said on Thursday, advising central banks to keep easy money flowing so the rebound does not prove short-lived.
A sculpture showing the Euro currency sign is seen in front of the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt

Eurozone PMI Drops: Is It A Blow For ECB Operations?

Hopes that the European Central Bank’s operations would help to facilitate a meaningful pick-up in the euro-zone economy were dealt a blow by the release of March’s flash Purchase managers Index surveys according to Capital Economics.
Italy's weak bond auction on Tuesday spooked traders, causing a drop in the prices for the country's government bonds

ECB's Draghi Says Worst Of Euro Zone Crisis Is Over

The worst of the euro zone crisis is over and the European Central Bank will act if inflation risks grow, ECB President Mario Draghi said in a German newspaper interview released on Thursday, seeking to ease angst in Germany about price rises.
Euro coins in a montage

3 Things You Need To Know About Greece's Default

Developments in the two weeks since the credit event confirmed that the world's first test of using credit default swaps as protection involving sovereign debt turned out fairly well. But broader concerns abound, such as the fragile Greek economy and what could be in store for fellow euro zone members Spain and Portugal.
A sculpture showing the Euro currency sign is seen in front of the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt

Europe Economic Crisis: Has ECB Provided the Solution?

The latest liquidity operations by European Central Bank (ECB) appear to have averted, at least for the time being, a threatening catastrophe in the euro-zone banking sector. But it would be wrong to think that they have solved the region’s deeper fiscal and economic problems, or secured the future of the single currency itself according to Capital Economics.
The euro zone saw a trade surplus after four months of gains.

EU Considers New Controls For Shadow Banking Sector

The European Commission is widening its regulatory sweep to include "shadow" banking, heralding new controls over the sprawling and largely unchartered 46 trillion euro ($61 trillion) sector blamed for helping trigger the financial crisis.
Greece

Derivative Swaps In Greek Debt Deal Could Weaken Europe Further

Greece's nearly $270 billion debt restructuring was deemed a default last week, bringing relief to creditors that had hedged their bets by buying credit default swaps. But the default declaration could send a wave of unintended consequences throughout Europe, further weakening some already-fragile economies.
Greece

Greek Bond Deal Technically Default, Triggering CDS Payouts: ISDA

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association decided Friday that Greece’s debt swap was a restructuring credit event. Its decision triggers payouts on almost $3.2 billion of credit default swaps -- insurance-like contracts aimed at protecting creditors from loss.
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Nikkei Hits 7-Month High On Greek Deal

Tokyo stocks jumped to a seven-month high Friday as Asian shares rose on signs Greece is a step nearer to averting a default, although momentum may be checked by caution ahead of U.S. data that is expected to confirm a labor market recovery.
ECB President Draghi, one of the many central bankers who held interest rates steady Thursday

Central Bankers Hold Rates Steady On Inflation Concerns

Central bankers around the world took their foot off the loose monetary policy throttle Thursday and kept benchmark interest rates steady on inflation concerns and the lack of new threats to gross domestic product growth.
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

Wall Street rises on optimism Greek deal near

Wall Street opened higher on Thursday as strong uptake by investors in Greece's debt swap fed optimism a deal could be completed by a deadline later in the day, staving off a messy default.
A sculpture showing the Euro currency sign is seen in front of the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt

Europe Central Banks Keep Rates Steady, Eye Inflation

Two of Europe's main central banks announced Thursday they would be keeping their benchmark interbank lending rates unchanged, in an expected move that analysts see as an acknowledgement of creeping inflation and policy exhaustion.

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