Global markets swing as Europe debt issue worsens

Markets across the world were rattled briefly after Standard & Poor's downgraded Greece's rating to "junk" while also cutting the ratings of Portugal and Spain, citing these nation's spiraling debt. Risk appetite tumbled, with commodities and stocks taking a beating while the dollar and gold gained. The cost of insuring against sovereign debt default by Greece, Portugal and Spain surged while the spread between the benchmark notes of Greece and Germany shot up. Sentiment across asset classes, markets and regions nose-dived as European leaders dragged their feet over a rescue package for Greece, stoking fears that the debt-ridden nation could end up defaulting on its obligations. Pressure mounted on the leaders of euro-zone countries, particularly Germany’s Angela Merkel, to agree quickly on the details of the proposed bailout.

The situation seemed to stabilise by Friday evening as all the stakeholders agreed to do their bit to contain the debt contagion. Germany may now approve its share of the bailout by May 7. So, the EU and IMF decided to raise the aid package to €120bn over three years, up from an original plan of €45bn this year. The Financial Times (FT) reported that Greece has agreed the outline of a €24bn (US$32bn) austerity package. Final details of the measures, which are intended to slash the budget deficit by 10-11% of GDP over the next three years, were still being worked out, the FT added. A successful auction of Italian debt also helped soothe nerves. Global stocks also got a boost from strong earnings from major US companies, which lifted Wall Street and raised hopes that the world's largest economy was picking up steam, tempering some worries about Europe's debt problems.