G.O.O.D

Source: Reuters

A tentative rebound in global stocks spluttered on Wednesday while euro zone government bond yields hit a three-year low as gloomy economic news highlighted the case for more aggressive interest rate cuts in Europe this week.

The euro stayed on the backfoot and oil held near a 3-1/2 year low a day before the European Central Bank, Bank of England and Sweden’s Riksbank are all widely expected to cut borrowing costs.

Supporting those expectations, economic reports on Wednesday showed the euro zone’s services economy fell deeper into recession in November than initially thought and inflationary pressures eased.

“This is a horrible survey across the board, showing that the euro zone service sector is being hit ever harder by the financial crisis, muted consumer spending and markedly weaker activity in key export markets,” said Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight.

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Technorati Tags: European Central Bank, Bank of England, Riksbank

Source: Reuters

World stocks fell on Tuesday, erasing more than half of last week’s gains, while oil hit a 3-1/2 year low and the yen and government bonds surged as concerns intensified about a deep global recession.

Confirmation that the United States had entered recession in December 2007 and a warning from the Federal Reserve chief that the economy remained under considerable stress triggered a sell-off on Wall Street on Monday, with the S&P 500 index fell 1.5 percent, edging closer to the 5-1/2 year low hit on November 21.

Emerging stocks fell 3.2 percent.

U.S. crude oil fell 2.8 percent to $47.88 a barrel, after hitting the low of $47.36 earlier.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield stood at 2.7155 percent, after falling to about 2.65 percent on Monday — its lowest in 50 years.

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Technorati Tags: Global stocks