By msnbc.com news services
U.S. stocks are set to follow European markets lower Friday.
Shares in Europe took another pounding Friday after Italy?s borrowing rates ratcheted higher following a pair of hugely disappointing auctions from the eurozone?s third-largest economy.
The auction results are another sign that Italy?s new technocratic government faces a big battle to convince the markets it has a strategy to get a grip on the country?s massive debts. It also served as a reminder that Europe?s debt crisis has clearly spread from its relatively small economies to big countries such as Italy and Spain.
Following the grim news on the auction front, Italy?s borrowing rates in the markets skyrocketed, with the ten-year yield spiking 0.34 percentage point to 7.30 percent ? above the 7 percent threshold that is widely considered unsustainable in the long-run and eventually forced Greece, Ireland and Portugal had to seek financial bailouts.
Wall Street was poised for a lower open, though trading is expected to be fairly light as many traders will remain away for a long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Friday?s abbreviated trading session on Wall Street will end at 1 p.m. ET.
Aside from Europe's debt crisis, traders in the U.S. were bracing for a crucial test of the world's No. 1 economy ? so-called Black Friday, the day that kicks off the holiday shopping season. How well retailers do will have consequences for the still-fragile U.S. economic recovery, as well as for the global economy.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
dan wheldon walking dead weldon weldon danica patrick david garrard indy car
No comments:
Post a Comment