Spain became the fourth euro member to seek a bailout since the start of the region’s debt crisis more than two years ago with a request for as much as €100 billion to rescue its banks. Just seven months after winning a landslide victory, the Spanish government was forced to abandon its bid...

Monetary policy makers are preparing for action to shore up their economies as the effect of the eurozone crisis is being felt across the globe. Following the recent interest rate cut in Australia, China followed with its first rate cut (25 basis points) since 2008 as it stepped up efforts to combat a...

Today market attention will be on the Spanish 10-year bond auction and should demand prove to be poor, the euro could come under major pressure.

The markets took a battering last week with the re-emergence of the Eurozone crisis amid concerns over Spain’s need for an international bail-out to recapitalise its banking sector. The FTSE-100 ended the week down almost 100 points at 5,260 while on the currency markets EUR/USD plummeted to an 18-month low as investors took...

Sterling failed to benefit from euro weakness, with cable easing to $1.5350, with the pound also losing ground against the euro. Cable has fallen from $1.6250 to $1.5350 over the month as markets have reassessed the scope for further QE following disappointing economic data.

Trading on the markets was dominated by escalating fears that Spain will need a bail-out package to support its banking sector. As investors went in search of safe-haven assets the USD seemed to be the main beneficiary.

The markets remain focused on Spain where press reports suggest that the ECB have rejected a €19 billion Spanish plan to recapitalise troubled lender Bankia by indirectly tapping the ECB for cash. Markets are concerned about Spain’s ability to rescue its banking sector without international help at a time of...

With a US Federal holiday and no economic data releases there was little to capture the market’s attention yesterday. Despite a recent bounce, sentiment surrounding the euro remains heavy with Spanish bonds coming under renewed pressure prompted by ongoing concerns over the banking sector.

Despite the ongoing problems in the eurozone, US consumer confidence recorded its ninth consecutive monthly gain in May, rising to the highest level since October. American households effectively became more upbeat in response to an improved outlook for employment.

-0.3% quarter-on-quarter. This reflected a downward revision to construction output while activity in the services sector was unchanged at a meagre 0.1% and manufacturing output was flat. Worryingly, this release showed that the UK consumer remains very cautious with household consumption up just 0.1% while government spending still made the...