(Comments below have been provided by CMC Markets Analyst Michael Hewson) So another week begins and the same old stories continue to vie for attention with Greece struggling to convince the rest of Europe it can meet its obligations, after having a decision on the next tranche of its bailout delayed until October.The lack of any headway at the Ecofin weekend meeting in Poland, along with a swift dismissal of advice from US treasury secretary Timothy … Read more »

Yesterday’s decision by the German constitutional court to ratify the legality of the recent bailouts, along with the passing of the Italian austerity budget in a confidence vote in the senate may well have staved off an imminent crisis, but it certainly hasn’t resolved it. If anything it’s probably only bought some time for policymakers, but given the politically toxic backdrop starting to simmer amongst voters in Europe one has to ask the question, how … Read more »

The single currency managed to claw back ground from the initial sell off earlier this week after Spain managed to get away an auction of 12 and 18 month T-bills albeit at much higher yields of 3.702% and 3.902% respectively. The single currency also shrugged off comments by ECB governing council member Jens Nowotny that the ECB might be prepared to countenance a selective default of Greek debt as a way forward, putting him at odds … Read more »