European markets

European stocks were once again down on Friday, contributing towards one of the worst quarterly falls for the markets in the past decade.

In this quarter stock market in France and Germany extreme fallen, about 25% of stocks fallen in Germany and France.

Shares in London's FTSE are down 13.7%, It is worst quarterly performance since 2002.

Friday's falls follow an unexpectedly  rise in the eurozone inflation rate for September to 3%.

Investors are hoping that European Central Bank would decrease in interest rates in the eurozone, after unexpectedly  rise in inflation upto 1.5%.

However, the latest inflation figures may make such a move less likely.

US durable goods orders slip back on weak car demand

Orders for big manufactured goods in the US drop down slightly in August after a sharp jump in the previous month, due in part to drop down in demand for cars.

Durable goods orders drop by 0.1% to $201.8bn, roughly in line with expectations, after a 4.1% rise in July, the Commerce Department said.

However, plane orders increased strongly for the second month in a row.

The figures come a day after weak housing and consumer confidence data reinforced concerns for the US economy.

On Tuesday, the closely-watched S&P Case Shiller index showed stagnant house prices in July, while the Conference Board's consumer confidence index for September indicated no recovery from August's weak level.

UBS 'rogue trader': Loss estimate raised to $2.3bn

UBS estimated loss has raised due to alleged unauthorised trading to $2.3bn (£1.5bn) from an initial $2bn.

The bank also said the alleged activity by trader Kweku Adoboli was not recoverable after UBS began making inquiries.

That prompted Mr Adoboli to admit the losses on Wednesday, UBS said. The trader was charged with fraud and false accounting at a London court on Friday.

The bank's statement comes as UBS boss Oswald Gruebel insisted he might not resign over the incident.

"I have done everything that happens at the bank," Mr Gruebel told Swiss Sunday newspaper, der Sonntag. "if you ask me whether I feel guilty, then I would say no."

Central banks act as economy hits 'dangerous new phase'

 

Five central banks have moved to boost the liquidity of commercial lenders, as the boss of the International Monetary Fund warns of a "dangerous" new economic threat.

The central banks will provide the commercial banks with three additional tranches of dollar loans to provide ease funding pressures.

Banking stocks growing sharply, with BNP Paribas up as much as 22%.

IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said "bold steps" was needed.

Speaking in Washington, she said: "Uncertainty hovers over sovereigns across the advanced economies, banks in Europe, and households in the United States.

"Without collective, bold, action, there is a real risk that the major economies going back instead of moving forward."

Global stock markets down on debt fears as euro falls

• Posting

US shares are trading lower, following falls in European and Asian markets on fears that Greece may default.

A series of news reports that Germany may be preparing for an "orderly default" by Greece also sent the euro lower.
German officials sought to shore up confidence on Monday, saying the stability of Greece and the euro was "the common goal".
Bank shares were down, with France's BNP Paribas closing down 12%.
Other French banks also fell amid rumours of a possible downgrade of their debt and concerns about their exposure to Greece and Italy.
By mid-morning in New York, the Dow Jones was down by 1% and closed 0.71% down. Nasdaq closed positive.
London's FTSE 100 closed down 1.6%, France's Cac 40 fell 4.0% and Germany's Dax lost 2.3%. The declines followed heavy falls in Asia, where Hong Kong ended 4% down.
The euro fell to a 10-year low against the yen, and investors poured money into German bonds in a flight to safety.
The latest crisis of confidence in the markets came amid worries that Germany had lost patience with Greece - and other heavy indebted eurozone nations - and might not help future bailouts.
German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said in a newspaper article at the weekend that an "orderly default" by Greece could no longer be ruled out.
On Monday, adding to the tensions, the general secretary of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's junior coalition partner suggested that Greece can leave the eurozone.
"In the final analysis, one also cannot rule out that Greece either must, or would want to, leave the eurozone," Christian Lindner, the general secretary of the Free Democrats (FDP), said in a television interview.
HSBC closed down 2.4%, Lloyds fell 1.6%, RBS fell 3.4%, and Barclays was 1.6% down.

US and European stock markets fall on weak US jobs data

Stock markets have dropped sharply as weak US, jobs data added to threats of a new global economic downturn.

Wall Street was most effected, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq indexes down more than 2%.

Earlier, European stocks closed down as the Department of Labor said the US economy added no net jobs in August.

The jobs data follows production sector surveys released on Thursday which showed activity at factories worldwide fallen last month.

London's FTSE 100 ended 2.3% drop, and Frankfurt's Dax was 3.36% down. In France and Spain, markets were more than 3% fall, and Milan's exchange sank almost 4%.

The Dow dropped 2.2%, and the S&P and Nasdaq were 2.5% fall.

The London market was not helped by other data on Friday that pointed to a further slowdown in the construction industry in the UK.

The slump start  late trading in the US on Thursday, where the Dow Jones ended the day 1% down, before continuing in Asia on Friday morning, where Tokyo's Nikkei drop index 1.2%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng drop index 1.8%.

Bank sector in Europe was worst effected.

In the UK, Barclays share drop 8.4% and Lloyds 7.1%. In Germany, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank were fallen 6% and 5.5% respectively. In France, Credit Agricole dropped 7.4% and Societe Generale was off 6.6%.

In the US, where it has emerged that the banks will be sued by a US government home loans agency, shares in Bank of America were hammered, falling 8% at the open, while Citibank share dr0ped 5.2%.

Gulf seabed one year after BP disaster

It has been about a year since BP sealed the oil well that had been gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Renewed exploration and drilling is in the news this week with deals being discussed in Russia, Alaska, India, and even off the shores of Cuba. But has the international business community threatened from the Gulf Oil Spill one year later?

A U.S. biochemist and scholar says no way, and there should be more protections and protocols must be put in place.

Dr. Samantha (Mandy) Joye and a group of scientists from the U.S. states of Georgia and Florida are studying the sea-floor in the same area where the Deepwater Horizon well blew out.  With automatic cameras, the scientists have been able to take clear look at what what happen beneath, and it's a slimy, soupy mess.

While her favorite place has to be on board the research ship, I caught up with Dr. Joye in her Athens, Georgia office at the University of Georgia's Department of Marine Sciences to talk about her research.

Her team has detect that a lot of the oil from the spill has settled to the seafloor and the result has been devastating to some of the smallest components of sea life.