spain

Spanish yields rose at auction Thursday as fears grew that the banking bailout will become a liability on the country's balance sheet. The weak auctions of 2-, 5-, and 7-year bonds followed poor economic data on Wednesday that showed home prices falling more than expected in the second quarter and...

Late Thursday, Moody's Investor Services downgraded the sovereign credit rating of Italy to Baa2 from A3, citing a weaker economic outlook and rising funding costs. Moody's left Italy on negative outlook and maintains its short-term rating of Prime 2. The rate cut places Moody's rating one notch...

U.S. stocks pointed to a slightly higher open Wednesday as new austerity in Spain gave global sentiment a slight lift, although the earnings picture at home continues to look muddled. The S&P 500 has declined in four straight sessions. Decliners outpaced advancers 2 to 1 on the NYSE in Tuesday...

U.S. equity futures rose Wednesday after falling the day before. Increased clarity over the Spanish bank recapitalization plan has buoyed investor sentiment. S&P 500 futures rose 5.5 points and NASDAQ futures rose 9 points. Spain this morning has announced a new round of austerity measures...

On Friday, Spanish and Italian bonds sold off over renewed fears concerning the finances of the indebted nations. Spanish 10-year yields touched post-summit highs of 7.1 percent early Monday morning before recouping some losses. On Monday, the benchmark 10-year traded near 7.053 percent. Fears...

Global financial markets traded in a risk-off mode on Monday morning, following the release of the U.S. employment report on Friday. Spanish 10-year yields have risen to 7.07 percent as traders worry that the new direct bank recapitalization may take too long to be implemented. Also, fears over the...

The euro/U.S. dollar spot rate hit its lowest level in about two years during Friday's session. The ever increasing concerns over the European debt crisis have caused the Euro to slide lower and also sparked speculations that the Economic and Monetary Union might be falling apart. The rumors of a...

Late on June 28, European leaders announced that they had agreed to recapitalize Spanish banks without adding more debt to the Spanish government's balance sheet. Subsequently, Spanish bonds rallied and yields fell. However, the market impact of this bailout has just run out. Spanish 10-year...

On Sunday, the Spanish National Soccer Team won the 2012 UEFA European Championship, becoming the first team to win three major championships in a row since the inception of the World Cup in 1930. Spain previously won the 2008 UEFA European Championship and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In contrast, at...

According to new data released by the Bank of Spain, bad loans as a percent of total lending jumped to 8.72 percent in April from 8.37 percent in March. This compares to 6.36 percent a year ago, and is the highest reading since 1994. The Bank said that $6.1 billion soured in April. The bad-loans...

The U.S. stock market fell apart late in the day on Wednesday after the major averages spent much of the session near the unchanged mark. Investors continue to sell risk assets as fears ramp up over rising Spanish bond yields, signalling that the European sovereign debt crisis may be spinning out...

Investors who shorted the iShares MSCI Spain Index Fund (NYSE: EWP) over the last few months could have made a nice buck. Now, with Spain's banking problems escalating into a full-blown crisis, investors may be looking for other ways to play the Spanish pain. With Spanish bond yields blowing out to...

On Tuesday, Fitch downgraded the long-term issuer default ratings (IDR's) of 18 Spanish banks. This comes just a week after Fitch downgraded Spain's sovereign rating. Fitch is anticipating further deterioration of the banks' loan portfolios, particularly for those heavily exposed to construction...